WHEN FORTY FEEL LIKE SIXTEEN

DRL is thrilled to introduce our newest contributor...
Michele Rohyans

Starting out in a new relationship is always an adventure. Before we begin, I want to make it clear that this is not a bitter piece; in fact, it is very much the opposite.  This is a piece about the joy of opening your heart just when you were pretty sure you were OK with life just as it was...

When you are in your teens romantic love is a completely new concept, and you rush in, as you do most things at that age, with the assurance that there is no way anything painful will result...until it does. However, young hearts, most young hearts anyway, are quick to heal. Soon you are off and running again down that dangerous, twisting, rocky, hilly path, at break neck speed, forgetting that just a short time ago one of those emotional trees rose up in the middle of the path (when you were least expecting it of course) and SMACK! You went down with a thump as one of the lower limbs skewered your heart breaking it into a million pieces (melodramatic I know, but that is how things are when you are in your teens). Yet, and at the time it is really not what you want to hear, this is “puppy love” and like training wheels on a bicycle serves to prepare us for the next phase which is love in the twenties.

A WALK ON THE COUGAR SIDE...
Jillian B. Hart

In the forty-something (and above) world the term "COUGAR" does not conjure images of a wild, dangerous, predatory animal of the jungle.  Rather it stirs thoughts of smart, beautiful, confident , independent, women who prefer the company of younger men, their cubs.   Cougars know what they want and are not afraid to admit it out loud.  They are "stereotypically" considered to be a bit wild and definitely sexy. Think Madonna, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone and Kim Cattrall.  "Mature" attractive women who have their life totally put together and wrapped with a bow of self assurance and excitement.

Who wouldn't want to be labeled a Cougar? Much like "complementary"MILF term relates to the mommy-ing (and usually married) counter parts of the female gender. Men think they are HOT!  Although some may not admit it, most would love to be, long to be, classified as such.  Would you dare to be one?  Entertain it even if only for an evening or "one night stand"? Long term? Would you purr in that jungle if opportunity knocked?