Well heck Dixie you're doing better than most. Especially me. I keep falling for women I can't have!

Dixie, I fished in the ocean of women until I was 37 before I found Mrs. Right. I had some multi year relationships with "miss not quite the one". I learned a lot about dating, but not much about true love.

Don't throw away a possible great man for fear of being hurt. My now wife and I dated for a year, before I proposed, and we were engaged for a year, before the big day. Living together after the proposal let us both know we could do it forever. 33 years later, we are still happy to be with each other.

So don't run away for him, but just unwrap maybe one layer of barbed wire on your heart and see where it goes. Make no major commitments for now, and maybe put a one year dating only time limit on things. A good man is hard to find I suspect. Most of us are married already! ;)

Thanks for sharing Dixie.

Dixie, love can only happen if you let it. From your post, it's clear that you have not opened your heart to accept it. I totally understand that as your head keeps reminding you of the past.

The only thing that I can provide for you is, "When you know, you'll know" because your heart will drown out the reluctance coming from your brain.

My aforementioned coworker John went raccoon hunting with his brother in AR, where he grew up One of his friends was named Sam, a super friendly older man that drove an older F150. They had a good hunt, had a beer afterwards, and then Sam said his goodbyes and drove away. After he left they told John that Sam was actually Sam Walton.

Fun story.
I have known a few "Wyatts" over the years. One was my great uncle, a union hod carrier in the 1920s who suddenly found himself out of work due to the great depression. He scraped, scrambled, and bartered for materials and built a small house for his new bride. He also frequented yard sales for clothing and would visit pawn shops when he knew their rent was due and traded cash for gold jewelry at pennyweight value. I still wear one of those rings that was pawned during the depression @ ten cents on the dollar.

When he passed away he owned several rental homes and 500 AC of land halfway between LA and Palm Springs. The house he built had a dozen hidey holes filled with gold jewelry he had acquired over the years as his personal savings account. He lived in the house he built and drove the same old Chevy truck for nearly all of his life. He never trusted banks.

Gentle suggestion: Find yourself a nice pair of wire cutters and get busy cutting away all of that barbed wire around your heart. Get some antiseptic and treat those wounds so you can open yourself to love again. These opportunities don't come along every day and this guy sounds very grounded and knows exactly who he is. Love can be magnificent, frustrating, glorious, infuriating, and rarely lasts forever. It's still worth taking that leap I think.
Cheers!

well your old enough to have your share of..
would have..
could have..
wanted too but..
and know..
that bad decision don't always s make good stories..
give yourself a chance..
certainly Wyatt...
as he sounds like your kind of man..

Rika

Dixie, I forgot to add: you are allowed to be happy. You are worthy of it. You don't need to push it away.

Be well.

Dixie, I wish you only the best. You seem like a warm and thoughtful person and bring a welcome perspective here on certain threads. With that said, I confess “The Husband Store” joke immediately came to mind. Forgive me for resharing it here… I’m not necessarily applying it to you.

“A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates.

You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch: you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.

On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs.

The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love kids.

The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love kids, and are extremely gorgeous. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework."Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

A new wives store opened across the street. The first floor has wives that love sex. The second floor has wives that love sex and have money.The third through sixth floors have never been visited.”

In my many years of dating, and searching for Mrs. right, I found many ladies that rejected me, a man with a paid for car, steady job, and owned a house. They went for the bad boy biker gang member, or other low life, convinced they could change him. One of our employees was really clumsy and walked into a lot of cabinet doors. She regularly had a black eye, or bruises on her face under the heavy makeup. It was sad to see. He finally forced her to quit the job as we were to nosy about her relationship.

I found the same thing Glen. Would have helped me if I was over 6 ft tall too. lol