Sometimes your past can run into your present. You never see it coming. And it’s not always a good thing, but it does happen. Saturday night I decided to go to a local singles dance. My routine at these events is to find the woman who I find the most attractive and dance with her. That doesn’t mean I don’t strike out at times, but it is the game plan. Some nights it does happen to work out, some nights it doesn’t and sometimes there is not anyone attractive enough for me to bother with. I’m patient, and I will sit with my Ketel One on the rocks and bide my time.

This week a pretty blonde woman waved to me as I started to sit down. I knew the face, but I couldn’t place her. Then it dawned on me that ten years ago, I had a date with the woman. She had been a regular at the local nightclub, called The Free Spirit, that at the time was my haunt. One night out of the clear blue she came over to me and asked me out. We were to meet that Sunday night at the same club.

When I arrived she was sitting at the bar. I went over and grabbed the stool next to her. After ten minutes of idle chatter, she got up and started talking to other guys at the bar. They were all regulars, but the move was damn peculiar. I watched her do this for twenty minutes, and then she came back to join me. She stated, “I hope that didn’t bother you. I know a lot of guys and hope you are not the jealous type.” “Oh,” I thought, “She thought I’d get jealous.” Which is rather hard thing to do on a first date. I responded that she had not made me jealous. “Then did I piss you off?” What a fucking moron she was. I stated, “I’m beyond pissed off. I’ve gone straight to indifference.” I asked the barkeep for my tab, threw money on the bar, and left. I moved away a few months later.

So, here she was a decade later. She was still attractive, but I was still disinterested. But then I saw a new woman enter the dance. She was gorgeous and she looked like somebody familiar. And then it hit me. She looked just like Jill Hennessy. Not a twin, but she certainly could have been a sister. Wow. And then she sat down two chairs away from the former-date-moron. I thought, I really don’t want to asked her to dance and get turned down next to the other woman. Stupid, right? Why should I have cared? By the time I sorted this dilemma out “Jill” was dancing with someone else. I cursed my hesitance. It had been years since I saw a woman who so moved me.

But, fate works in rather strange ways. Ten minutes later she was back at that table. I was not going to blow it twice. So she could turn me down. So what? I asked her to dance. She smiled a big grin and told me she’d love to dance. She stated while we were dancing that I looked familiar. I told her we had not yet met. She squinted and said, “Match.com! You were on Match. I loved your pic and profile and was hoping you’d contact me. But you know what? As great as your picture is, you are even more handsome in person.” Boy, was I now on an ego trip. It was 9 PM. We danced, we laughed, we held hands and chatted till the danced closed at 1 AM. It has been a long time since a lady has so intrigued me. I had a great time, the best in years.

In a recent meme, I was asked what I was doing for New Year’s Eve. I said I was waiting for my best offer. That best offer came to me as I kissed her goodnight at her car. She asked me out for New Years. We will do dinner and dancing at a swanky establishment. Oh, here’s a killer. Her name is actually Jill. I am now a poster child of optimism. And fate. I cannot wait to see her on Thursday! I hope you have a great New Years. We will return on Saturday with Crazy Sam.