52 New Friends

Mary grew up as the only girl in a household with five boys.   She was largely sheltered as a child.   So when she was of the age to go to college, she wanted to break out and spread her wings.   That’s why she left her home in New York to attend Arizona State University.   It was far enough away that she felt like she was on her own but she did have a brother who was also attending ASU, just in case she ever needed anything.   She never did. Once when she was home on summer break, she was with a friend at local hangout when the most handsome man she’d ever seen came up to talk to her.   He was 6’4” and gorgeous.   He also lived in the area.   They went on a date the next night and continued the relationship even when she went back to ASU.   She was wild about him!   They talked about a future together, getting married.   And then, he missed a phone call he normally would have made.   At first, Mary made excuses for him.   He was in the military and sometimes missions come up un

A long time friend, who is the general manager of an assisted living facility, suggested that since I was making new friends, I should come and visit some of the residents at her facility…and I thought, “What a great idea!”   When I was a kid, my church group regularly visited a nursing home just up the street.   Where had that habit gone?   I couldn’t remember.   But it’s been years since I’ve heard of anyone visiting the elderly. It took a while to coordinate on my part but I finally found a time that would work.   My friend, Amey, greeted me, took me on a tour of the facility and told me she knew just who I should meet.   Eventually, she stood in the doorway of one of the rooms, introduced me to Betty and then she was gone.   I walked into the dimly lit room and smiled at the woman sitting in a wheelchair.   She asked me to pardon the mess.   She’d just moved in.   She told me that she’d apparently had a stroke.   “You mean you don’t know?” I said, teasing. She shook he

Sometimes a girl just wants to see a movie.   And sometimes, particularly if you are single, no one is available to go with you.   This was my plight a few weeks ago.   So what did I do?   I went by myself!   Only I arrived WAY too early and found myself sitting on the bench outside the theater.   The hallway was virtually empty.   I tried playing on my phone but the wifi connection was bad.   So I sighed, leaned back into the wall and entertained myself by watching people passing by. I’d been sitting there for about fifteen minutes when I saw an older woman, in her seventies, coming towards me in a bright pink tshirt that said, “Be Happy”.   As she was walking past the recycling bin, she read the sign aloud:   “Recycle your glasses”.   She then moved her hand to the spectacles on her face and said, “But I like mine!”   I giggled and she smiled at me.   “I know what they meant,” she said.   “I know…but I would have thought that, too.” The woman walked up to where I w

Having to find a date for my friend, Katie’s wedding launched me right back onto the hamster wheel that we all know as online dating.   To be honest, I don’t agree to go out with many guys.   There are just so many that you must have sorting criteria and you have no idea if you are weeding out someone you might actually get along with…or not.   Either way, it hasn’t been an entirely successful endeavor for me…and yet, I’m still drawn to it like a moth to a flame. A few weeks ago, I got a message from a guy so I checked out his profile…and as I was reading through it, I started to laugh.   He was a handsome guy but he was literally twice my size, solid muscle, covered in tattoos with a long black beard and gauges in his ears.   The thought of this Jason Momoa-look-alike sitting next to me, the conservative-looking, tattooless girl, somehow tickled my funny bone.   So much so that I actually responded back by saying, “Thanks for the laugh!   We would look completely ridiculous tog

I’d been lured across the breezeway at the Mesa Arts Center with the promise of cupcakes.   A decorated table displaying a full array of decadent cupcakes sat at the bottom of the stairway.   I slowly stalked the full length of the table, eyeing the cupcakes, each one more delicious-looking than the next and finally settled on a chocolate-on-chocolate number that made me salivate.   I picked it up and immediately realized how difficult it was going to be to eat a cupcake gracefully.   Strategically thinking that I needed some type of support, I meandered over to an area of tables, slowly dismembering the paper from around the bottom of the cupcake.   I had no sooner taken a bite when I was suddenly sharing my table with a couple.   Another couple came up right behind them.   We all engaged in small talk but I was very consciously aware of the woman to my left.   She was older than me, but confident and elegant in a way that I’ve always aspired to be.   I didn’t get to talk t