Senior Moments: When the song of the nightingale hits a sour note
My daughter told the story with a mixture of mirth and distaste.
“So the nightingale has returned outside my bedroom window,” she began.
I pictured the window in her apartment where I had lived with her for a while after the fires. The area was eerily devoid of bird sounds, as though the head honcho of the clan had warned them away with an order to evacuate.
“How nice,” I responded, remembering how happy I was when I heard the first bird chirp in my yard a long time after I was able to move back into my house. But Sara’s voice had an edge.
She cleared her throat and explained that the nightingale is the guy who can’t get a date. That’s why he sings all night long. The nightingale’s song is his mating call. Since this is all he has to offer, it’s no wonder he’s doing so poorly with the women he finds online.
Now she had my attention.
Then she launched into a story about one of her friends, a woman in her mid-thirties, who had been approached on an online dating site by a man in his eighties.
He was oozing with interest and she was, shall we say, aghast. But she decided, why let a good man go to waste?
She replied to her would-be suitor that her mother had a friend who would be just right for him. She was a charming woman in her early seventies, who had similar interests to his according to his online profile.
Figuring she would very possibly not hear from him again, she was surprised when he shot back an email – asking for the woman’s picture.
“Ah, the vanity of some men at any age,” Sara sighed. He had to see her picture first.
Of course, you know what happened next. Mr. Nightingale decided that the lovely 70-year-old lady looked too old for him. He was hoping for someone with a younger aesthetic.
So he missed out on the possibilities of having a wonderful relationship, or at least a nice date. She got lucky, not having to deal who someone so superficial. In the end, she met someone who values her for just who she is.
And Mr. Nightingale? He’s still singing outside the window, all alone.
Email patriciabunin@sbcglobal.net. Follow her on Patriciabunin.com