That is when I saw Craig’s profile. He had pictures of his kids which were adorable, a line about “seduction by Dad jokes” which made me laugh, and yes he was handsome. I swiped.
His opening line was bold: “What are you going to do when you fall in love and need to move to Phoenix?” I rolled my eyes, but since I was only in town for the week I suggested we meet up. He joined me for a drink at my cabana and we ended up going to dinner.
I do not even remember which restaurant we went to but Craig does. What I remember is sitting there with a plate of French fries looking across the table and thinking, “I like this guy.”
That was unexpected. These trips were always about me, never about dating. But my friend had encouraged me not to close myself off. At 40, newly out of a relationship, she reminded me that I really wanted to find my person. She was right.
What stood out about Craig was not an over-the-top move, it was his consistency. After our three dates that week I flew back to Philadelphia assuming it would fizzle. Instead he called, he texted, he kept showing up. Within a week he told me he had come off the apps to focus on getting to know me. And he proved it by following through.
We made a commitment never to go more than two weeks without seeing each other. Sometimes I flew to him, sometimes he flew to me, but we always kept that promise.
Of course we had our funny moments too. On our very first date I told him, “You have not told me I am pretty yet.” Craig loves retelling that story because he did not cave. He just kept talking like it was nothing. That is us in a nutshell: lighthearted, jovial, unpredictable.
