Treasure found

One of the joys I’ve experienced with online dating is discovering amazing men. I wrote about this in “Dating as networking.”

A year ago, I received a well-written email from an intelligent, engaging, articulate, educated, feisty, 64-year-old man. He was older than I prefer, lives 3000 miles away, and had no picture posted. However, his well-crafted note prompted me to send an expanded version of my “Thanks, but you live too far away” email. He responded that he was moving to my area soon, would be here in a few weeks and, if I allowed, would love to meet me. We talked by phone several times before his visit. His charming, witty, engaging, playful manner enticed me to accept his invitation.

In the weeks between that first email and our dinner date, I learned he was the first black man to attend a well-known Southern college in the early ’60s. The discrimination he endured and how he dealt with it was so intriguing, the 1995 book The Stem of Jesse. The Costs of Community at a 1960s Southern School was written about him and his experience.

This Monday he was featured in two articles in the Macon Telegraph. He is one of my treasures. Although he ended up not moving to my area, we stay in contact through monthly calls and have created a great friendship. If I had just blown him off, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have this amazing man in my life.