by Angela Blair

Created on: November 15, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2009

The idea of a younger woman dating an older man automatically brings visions of a vibrant 20-year-old woman on the arm of a 50-something-year-old man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. I can testify; that's not always the case! As in dumb-and-dumber, old-and-older fits any age group at any time during one's life. I'm undoubtedly an outstanding example of that very situation!

My 70th birthday is already committed to my file bank of memories and young I ain't! I still live a busy and active life and don't give a lot of thought to partnering up with a guy whether young, old or somewhere in between. My friends, however, are determined to make sure I don't face the great beyond solo and their match making has produced some of the strangest dating situations known to mortal man. The last was the best, in my considered estimation, and it ranked right up there with an abscessed tooth!

My young friend, Linda, is horse crazy and upon finding I was a horse person, she attached herself to me like Velcro. An only child, she lives with her widowed father, and after horses, her aim in life is to find a new wife for her father before she leaves home for college. It didn't take superior intelligence and cunning to surmise she considered me an ideal match for her dad. He was an old cowboy, owned a small ranch just outside of town, and was still active and involved in living.

I'd successfully avoided Linda's very pointed attempts to introduce me to her father for over a year but last summer she hemmed me up and there was nothing I could do but "howdy" the old gent. Night had finally fallen and a group of us were standing behind the chutes, visiting, during our local rodeo. We'd all ridden in the parade, the grand entry, and were trying to recover from the hot Texas heat we'd endured all day and were tired to the bone.

I was particularly pooped as I'd ridden a colt I was working with and it had been his first public outing. He'd been introduced to crowds, parade floats with fluttering banners, loud noises, flapping flags and asphalt paving for the first time that day and although he'd done very well it had taken a lot out of both of us. I'd tied him to my trailer to rest and I was trying to unwind, with the group behind the chutes, when Linda announced her dad was at the rodeo and she wanted to introduce us. It would have been rude, and embarrassing for Linda, if I'd refused in front of everyone else, so I agreed.

She left and in no time at all returned with "Shorty." The name

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