To tell or not to tell

My divorce is official more than eight months now… another major life change for us all since my teen son, Sam, died overnight two years ago on Mothers’ Day unknowingly taking a synthetic drug. I consider I could be alone the rest of my life and I know, I already am alone except for God’s precious grace upon me. I have extended myself prior to and since my divorce to further understand this world we live in; this world which would allow a drug dealer to sell a poison that my son took and killed him while life in general goes on. I was inspired by one of my mainstays of the past two years. She met her future husband online and they are planning a Labor Day weekend wedding that my son, Nick, and I, will be in attendance for. If she could find her next Mr. Wonderful online, couldn’t I?

I set up my online profile and stole her Headline or tag line as if I was branding myself… she didn’t need it anymore, right? Besides, it was I and my working spouse at the time that had brainstormed sitting outside of a local pub one night after work to come up with it anyway?! A few winks, likes, faves and emails later, I realized I needed to be a full-time admin to manage this online “stuff.” I adapted and before too long figured out how the actual “meet and greet” occurs. Aziz Ansari, comedian from Parks and Recreation fame and author of “Modern Romance” also helped me out when I listened to him via audio book one trip to visit my parents in East Central Illinois.

I’ve found a few categories for online guys; those I could actually share Sam with and those that I wouldn’t begin to. Not all for the same reasons though. For example, Music Man, my first online date, didn’t even provide me enough picture-wise that I could recognize him in the crowded Rick’s Cafe Boatyard. I enjoyed getting to know him though; unfortunately, when we left two hours later, he really didn’t know me at all. I didn’t tell him about Sam. Then there was Bonefish, an IT executive that I met at the restaurant of the same name. I didn’t tell him about Sam either. The mechanical engineer that I met at Fireside Brewhouse, for some reason, I told about Sam, when we met. I don’t believe it was because I hadn’t told the first two, that I told the mechanical engineer, but despite what I may have told him, I did not want a second date and he had decided the same when he emailed me a few days later.

I met three guys many years younger than me and whether it was our age difference or not, I did not tell them about Sam. A fourth, younger than me, a consultant type, I did share Sam with. It was his Mr. Mom-demeanor coming out that allowed me to feel “safe” I later reflected.

For some reason, there were two guys that I met and after-the-fact told. One, I somehow felt compelled to. “M***hole” was what he called himself. I hadn’t heard the term before but apparently people from Massachusetts are familiar with the term and pride themselves on their up-front expressions that are cuttingly concise, keenly to the point, ripe with opinions and fearlessly full of conflict. I believe I told him in the hopes of somehow striking a human chord in there somewhere. “Nic" with the “k” missing; I told after meeting him, like “M***hole”, with the hopes of finding a human somewhere in the midst. It didn’t work with either one. ’nuff said.

The guy I nicknamed “007”; a former intelligence guy turned entrepreneur, I did tell about Sam. He humbled me when he profoundly responded, “We are all broken.” So there was a second date. It was then that I learned intel entrepreneurs don’t much like conformity, not even of the homeowners association kind. Since I don’t live that far out on a limb, there was no date three.

The guy I nicknamed “Major McHottie” I most easily told about Sam as he had lost a son as well; another military guy turned entrepreneur. Beyond that, I’m not sure we had anything in common although we dated many times.

I’ve thought about it. Why do I tell some and not others? The answer is the same as why here on Earth we fail. Because I’m human. #muchlovetosam