by James Dreyer

Created on: November 18, 2007   Last Updated: December 12, 2011

I was attracted to her from the moment she walked in the door. It was her smile that caught my attention first, and then the sparkle in her eyes. She wore very little makeup, but what she did was applied flawlessly. Her lips had just a hint of color with a touch of gloss; I couldn't help but wonder if it was flavored. My eyes dropped to her right hand; no rings, good.

My gosh! I couldn't believe what I was doing or what I was thinking. This was just my second time out after my divorce and I was all ready, all ready what? On the prowl? I don't think so, I am 59 years young and was married for thirty-three years to a woman that I thought was my soul mate and have only been divorced for eighteen months.

Yet I find myself staring at this extremely cute woman and now have ideas that I thought were normally reserved for teenaged boys going through my head at ninety miles per hour. Is she here alone? Is she waiting for someone? Does she have a "boyfriend"? Do I have a chance with her?

What am I thinking? What am I doing?

No, not what am I doing, but rather, what should I do? I have tried to flirt with anyone in decades! Have the rules changed? Should I be aggressive? Should I play hard to get? Oh, how clich' is that?

None the less, I find myself moving toward her
and wondering how I should initiate a conversation. I am close enough now to smell her perfume. It's familiar; "White Shoulders"? She turned, our eyes met; I froze.

"Pardon me", I mumbled, and then scooted toward the exit. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't simply ask her if she would like a drink, a dance, or dinner or anything else. I felt like an idiot.

I like so many "Boomers" who suddenly find themselves "available", was floundering in the "Sea of Love".
Well, maybe not a sea, and maybe not love, but certainly floundering.

How is a fifty-nine year old man supposed to flirt? Easy, just like a nineteen or twenty-nine or thirty-nine or any age man is supposed to naturally. That is, just be one's self and act one's age. Chances are that the object of your "quest" is just as confused and bewildered as you are and is just as unsure of his or herself to boot.

As human beings we are naturally attracted to members of the opposite sex (in most cases, any way) and we all have difficulty with making "first contact". Yet we get through it. Whether we clumsily bump into someone in the market or screw up the courage to make a ridiculous remark such as, "If heaven is missing an angel I know where she

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