“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” ― Anais Nin

We met at 7:30 at Gigante Restaurant in Eastchester, NY

Before I actually met him there were a couple of hiccups.

First, as I got to the door of the restaurant, a gray-haired man came and opened the door.  I thought he was my date, but I wasn’t sure because of the gray hair.   The guy I was hoping to meet had dark hair in his pictures.  We exchanged greetings, then he asked: “Do you want to fix your hair?”

When I looked at him quizzically, he added: “Do you want to go to the ladies’ room?”

I said: “I guess I need to fix my hair.”

He said: “It looks fine to me.”

After going to the ladies’ room to check on my hair and making sure my hair was fine, I was met in the lobby by the same man and now he had the hostess with him.

I said I was meeting someone, and the hostess said: “Oh yes, there is someone waiting by the bar.”

“Hope is a waking dream.” ― Aristotle

As I am walking towards the bar they were both walking with me.   In front of the bar there are some couches.  The man pointed to a guy sitting on the couch and asks me: “Is this him?  I said: “I don’t know I never met him before.”

I could only see the back of the guy’s head, and he had dark hair so I thought it could be him.  I go around the couch and with a big smile I say hi. The man looked up at me and just stared.

At the same time, I hear my name from the other end of the bar.

I look over, and there is my date by the bar,  laughing.

I burst out laughing.  Everyone is laughing. I wanted to find a hole and just hide in it.

I went over and we hugged.  We both couldn’t stop laughing.

My date said: “That was cute.  I am glad that we got the awkward moment out of the way.”

The man with gray hair felt bad.  He offered to take us to the most romantic table he had.

I still don’t know who that gray-haired man was, perhaps the owner or manager, but he was definitely dressed to go on a date and not to work in a restaurant.

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours..” ― Thoreau, Henry David

My date was well dressed. He had khakis, a nice dress shirt and a sports jacket.  I had a blue blouse, jeans and high heels.

The restaurant was beautiful. It was large, modern, beautifully decorated for Halloween with spider webs.  Sounds weird, but it worked.   The atmosphere and service were perfect.

He had a beer, and I had a the Gigante Spritz.  It was a cocktail made with raspberries, Pinot Grigio, Stoli Raspberry, St. Germaine and Prosecco Rose.  It was delicious.

For appetizer we had Crispy Chicken Parmesan Rolls.  It was a chicken egg roll and it was delicious.  For the entre, I had the Chicken Milanese.  I wasn’t going to have chicken again but the waitress mentioned being their best dish.  It was indeed delicious.  My date had the filet mignon and it was perfect.  He shared some with me.  For dessert I ordered a mango panna cota. I ordered it because of the coconut whipped cream and the berries.  I wouldn’t order it again.  But it was so pretty I took a picture of it.

During the date we talked about everything and nothing.  I don’t think we found out too much about each other’s past.  But in a way, it felt right, it felt light and unburdened.   This is different for me than other dates.  Normally I ask so many questions and come away knowing a lot.

I found out that he has been divorced four years.  Because of his two daughters he hasn’t dated at all until now.  One is in college, and the other will be going very soon.

We are both Aries. He is an adrenaline junkie. We both love massages and quote Seinfeld. He is self-assured but unassuming.  I normally don’t get along with Aries guys, but in this case it seemed to work.

We talked about sex, actually, the lack of sex in our lives and how we want to change that. We both think similarly on the topic. It needs to be meaningful. I introduced the topic.

There were tons of sparks.  At the end, he walked me to my car.  He asked me for my number. And when we hugged goodbye, we kissed.  I am not a big fan of kissing on the first date, but it seemed the perfect way to end this date.

He later texted to say thank you, and this morning again he said thank you for the great evening.

I had to describe him with only one word it would be: gentleman.

I am sure we will see each other again.

“I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind. And this is one: I’m going to tell it – but take care not to smile at any part of it.” ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

**

On another note.  I woke up at 4am from a nightmare and couldn’t go back to sleep.  I had a dream that I was entrusted to take care of a newborn baby. All of a sudden, I realize that I had not been giving the baby a bottle.  I remember feeling a terror inside that the baby was probably going to die or was already dead, because of my neglect.  I hurried to warm up the milk for the baby. The baby looked like he was sleeping serenely all wrapped up in a white blanket.  Or perhaps it was already dead?  I alternated thoughts of “the baby is dead” with “the baby will be okay”.

This dream really messed me up this morning.  I should have been dreaming of rainbows and butterflies and not potentially dead babies.

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”― Louisa May Alcott