Expiration Date

Tonight was my last date with The Tenor - and I waited all summer for the chance to use that pun.  I'm particularly pleased with it.

We decided to end on a classic note and went mini-golfing.  We're both fairly terrible, and were behind a family with small chillins, so it was a chance to spend a lot of time laughing and talking.  I did manage to put a hole in one with my eyes closed, which added an epic flair to the evening.  There was air hockey and basketball hoop-shooting afterwards in the arcade, and I managed to make a decent showing for myself.  We spent our little tickets on candy, enjoying the nostalgia of some fun dip.

We headed over to Coldstone to get ice cream, and after they closed and kicked us out we parked ourselves on a bench and spent the next two hours talking, laughing, petting the random stray cat who adopted us (we named him Snape), cuddling, and enjoying one another's company immensely. 

It's been a fabulous summer together.  So many people didn't - and still don't - understand the whole summer-fling-thing.  I've kind of given up trying to explain it, and I just smile.  We got it.  We were open and up front from the absolute beginning about how and when it would be over, so that everyone knew what was going on.  No one was disappointed or over-invested, there was no lying to ourselves about it.  That's where the difference is: no promises of forever and always, no false expectations, just honesty. I got to date a wonderful boy who restored my faith that good men exist, and that I don't have to settle.  I had a blast, I got a little spoiled, I got a lot of affection.  I made a bunch of fantastic memories that will not be tarnished by a break-up or trials that would inevitably come.  I've invested a lot into a wonderful friendship. 

Yes, I'll miss him.  But I can call him my friend, and that's a blessing.