The Dating Game

Not that I'm dating or anything ... just that lately I'm being reminded of just how much I have forgotten in the past 16 years.

Today, one of my co-workers light-heartedly tried to convince me of the eligibility of a certain bachelor in our community. His name is Cooter. I'm not kidding ... Cooter is the man's name. He can't drive because he has a seizure disorder that has resulted in other mental issues as well. For example, when I had to talk to him on the phone about a 4-H issue regarding his son, he gave me a mini-lecture on the benefits of using firewood as the sole method of heating one's home. I'm still not sure how the upcoming poultry show has a thing in the world to do with fireplaces, chopping wood, heating a home and the price of gas in China. Yes, Cooter brings me to the first thing I had forgotten about dating: the main reason I didn't date in high school was the the gene pool in this tiny village is very lacking.

My options are so extremely limited. Let's see ... so far, I've had people suggest to me that I go out with an alcoholic, a good looking young man who is at least a dozen years younger than me, a man known to be a tightwad womanizer, and my first cousin (who also happens to already be happily married). Furthermore, the only single male at the church I attend is 52 or 53 years old, and has a grandson that is Joel's age. Did I mention that my options were limited?

Last fall, a friend convinced me to check into some Christian online dating services. I did it ... mostly out of curiousity and because I thought that perhaps with such limited options locally I might need to be open-minded enough to try this kind of service. Let me just say that the word "Christian" obviously has a lot of meanings. Here's who I met last fall on a "Christian dating service":

* a married man
* a convicted felon (bank robber)
* a man of a different enthic background whose first questions to me were "Are you still able to have babies? How many babies are you willing to have?"
* several men who had been married 3, 4 or 5 times already and were seeking that "one special woman" God had for them

The most normal man I met on those Christian dating sites was a man who was very, very depressed regarding some rather disturbing and extensive abuse he received as a child. As you can imagine, none of these men are the kind of man for which I am looking. And even though I'm really not actively looking for someone to date, I'm beginning to wonder if there are any men between the ages of 35 and 45 who are real Christians? Who haven't been married umpteen times already? Who don't come with a ton of baggage? And who are just NORMAL?

Thankfully, I'm not in a rush or overly eager to find a new husband. I'm fairly happy with the way things are now. Yet after talking to my teasing co-worker about Cooter today, it sort of makes me sad that there really are no options out there for me. I have to admit that it would be nice to have a dinner out occasionally.

I guess that I'll end with my favorite quote from my favorite book (Anne of Green Gables), simply because I think it sums up my feelings fairly well:

"Ruby Gillis says when she grows up, she wants to have a line of beaus on a string and make them crazy for her. I'd rather have ONE in his rightful mind!"