The Subject is Romance

I have had the best time talking to my daughter about her romantic or more accurately her dating life. She finds it interesting or ironic that I have so much to say on the subject of dating. The fact is that I have very little dating experience. I met her father at the age of 18. His room-mate, who was my friend from high school, invited me over for dinner the first week at Michigan State College. One look at him and I was thinking about how to break up with the boyfriend I was with at the time. It took eight months. What occured during those months was more like hanging out, making out and then we were together. That was 35 years ago. Erica has been going out on dates. There have been introductions through friends, chance meetings at bus stops and connections through various websites. There is a lot of angst involved in the anticipation of each date or encounter. There is getting to know the person, who are you, what do you like, who do you like, where do you come from, what are the family stories and what are you looking for in a relationship. How do you know when you have met "the one"? I tell Erica that you should feel like your best self when you are with the person.

I listen to her stories about the dates and have found inspiration to write a song. So, we have been collaborating on a song about dating. I called it "Kissing Boys" because this process seems very much like kissing frogs until you meet a prince. Any reference to kissing seems to have been edited from the song. No matter. The experience of writing the song has been joyful. We have very different styles but it doesn't seem to matter. She finds the gold in my words and meaning and transforms the verses into something special.

I am looking forward to her comments about our conversations on dating.