FINDING MY WAY BACK TO LIFE....and the LOUNGE

Jenn Copp

I have to start off by saying I miss the Lounge. I have been gone way to long. Sometimes your life takes a turn and the stories you go through you don't feel are worth listening to or sharing. I think "I" don't even want to read it. But in the end, through all my struggles I have learned that I help people. So I am back. 

I have to say dating in my forties is probably my hardest struggle. Here we are at this stage of the game and you want things perfect. You think I have been through so much and I don't want to settle, so, your bucket list is pretty high for the match you are looking to make. Everyone keeps telling me ..You are the strongest person I know.  You chose not to settle for your husband because you wanted better for yourself. Keep plugging away Jenn. Well on that note I feel like I try. 

Putting yourself out there again and again is not easy. The awkward first meet alone is worthy enough to make me stay home. I am truly a hopeful romantic and in this day and age I question is; Is that even realistic?  Will I ever meet that guy that just gets me at Hello. The moment we lock eyes I would never want to leave their side and vice versa. I have to say I know I want that and more. It is not even an item on my bucket list. It is more ... I want that person that is my best friend. They will laugh with me, cry with me and everything in between. 

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.