Real Love after Forty

John was the love of my life. I have never known anyone before or since who could be compared to him.

We were introduced by a friend, which is the best and most safe way to meet anyone these days. He was an executive with an internationally well-known company and was in the United States on business from London. He was forty-nine and I had just turned forty-four and was in the process of getting a divorce after twenty-two years of marriage. The last thing on my mind was falling in love, especially with someone from a foreign country.

That night I was at the hotel bar with some girl friends. It was a kind of local social spot and was not your typical pickup bar. One of my friends dated the Manager of the hotel restaurant so we went there frequently. The regulars at the bar were all executives from surrounding businesses and most were married.

After a couple of drinks and some chit chat John invited several of us to have dinner with him as his guest. When the meal was over and we all started to leave and go home, he offered to walk my friend and me to our cars. She usually attracted the men. She had a great personality and never met a stranger. When we got to the parking lot, John took my hand and asked me to stay and have a drink with him so we could talk for a while. It was still early, so I did. Boy, what a shock to have been picked over my friend.

The night was wonderful. We went back into the bar and talked for a long time getting to know each other.

The rest of the week John and I had dinner together every night until he had to fly back to London. To my great surprise, early on Monday I received a phone call from him from London.

Thus began the fairytale love affair. It is wonderful to be with a man who thinks about you first and wants to please you and make you happy.

A few months later John came back to the States on business again. He was to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. This time his business was for a couple of days and the remainder of the week was to spend time with me.

For the next twelve years, we spoke on the phone daily and sometimes several times each day. John came to see me two or three times a year and I went to Europe to see him two or three times a year.

We traveled all over France, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Brussels, Spain, Majorca and Germany. It was the most wonderful years of my life. I was treated like a princess and was loved like no other woman could possibly have experienced.