I have a date today, my first in forty-three years.

[The Blue Flower]

18. Pat yourself on the back

You opened your heart and took a positive step forward. No matter what the outcome was, it's really about your willingness to open yourself to whatever the universe has to offer. Keep your courage and keep your heart open. Maybe this was just a test of your willingness. Sit down and think of what it was you learned from this one attempt. Then try another one and do the same. It's about your relationship to the universe and to yourself as a woman truly worthy of real love. I'm 62, have been divorced for 29 years, and have experienced nothing but lessons and disappointments. But I might have finally found the real thing. It's just now taking off with someone who lost his wife a year ago.

I have to say, though, that the online thing was only good for practice dating. For me to figure out what I will and won't put up with. I met this wonderful man volunteering at a place I love.