More Than Fine

 

 This is Patrick. I met him just days after my ex-husband died. Despite the fact that I have a few years on him and that I was going through a difficult time, he pursued me. He says he wanted to be with me from the moment he first saw me and he has spent 6 months proving it. He's the first man I have dated since my divorce that I trust not to hurt me. He's the first man who has addressed my concerns and fears with honesty and strength rather than pride and offense. In the process he won me over. 

He fits into my life like he has always been here. He adapted to the many quirks that Lydia and I share including things like a disdain for hearing people chew. He accepts the fact that he doesn't speak the non-verbal language that Lydia and I share with just a look from the years it has just been her and I. He's not jealous of my time with her. He's not intimidated by a house or car full of girls and can thrift shop with the best of us. He can do unconventional. He accepts our femaleness and doesn't try to change us. He has held me through the loss of relationship with my parents and picked up my phone without a word after I threw it across the room.He's the strongest, toughest, kindest, and most stable man I have ever known and I love him dearly.

 Playing Scrabble and eating cupcakes at Starbucks on his birthday. Note that he wore a party hat and glitter confetti we had bombed him with earlier and was happily hanging out with three ladies including two teenagers who like him better than they like me :)