{"id":19,"date":"2012-11-18T20:03:38","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T20:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/?p=19"},"modified":"2012-11-18T20:33:36","modified_gmt":"2012-11-18T20:33:36","slug":"well-hello-again-good-old-friend-of-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"Well, Hello Again, Good Old Friend of Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I think one of the things I wondered about since my breakup was what it would be like to be with another man. \u00a0To be honest, with so many online encounters focusing right in on sex,\u00a0I remember back to dates like Fish Lips and Bra Boy, and I shudder.<\/p>\n<p>This weekend won&#8217;t become one of those memories. \u00a0Instead, I was able to welcome back to my life, and my arms, an old friend. \u00a0I am so grateful for that.<\/p>\n<p>He was someone I had dated about 5 years ago. We both knew this wasn&#8217;t going to be the right relationship. \u00a0Fortunately, a great companionship developed &#8211; something more than friendship &#8211; a mutual comfort level with the exchanging of conversations and caresses. \u00a0This weekend he brought that back to me.<\/p>\n<p>My companion is great for my self esteem. \u00a0He tells me how sexy I am to him, he admires both my body and my sensuality. \u00a0He tells me all this without being overly cheesy &#8211; but also without any prompting. \u00a0It&#8217;s a refreshing combination. \u00a0I can believe what he says because he brings it out in me.\u00a0I treasure that about him.<\/p>\n<p>There are so many First Afters you have to deal with when a relationship ends. \u00a0The First time you visit a restaurant After going as a couple, the First time hanging out with friends After, the First time you kiss another man After, the First time you invite someone in to your bed After. It can be draining.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not the bill of goods I once was: \u00a0more gray hairs, more weight, more chips and dings,fewer days left on the warranty. \u00a0It&#8217;s easy to put yourself down if you let it happen. \u00a0You feel more vulnerable putting yourself back on the selling block. \u00a0You realize you may be no longer Mint in Box.<\/p>\n<p>This weekend I didn&#8217;t have to feel that way. \u00a0He helped me so much. I hold my head a little higher and stand a little straighter. \u00a0I remembered that I&#8217;m a good catch. \u00a0It&#8217;s nothing I didn&#8217;t have within me before, but like the Wizard of Oz, he reminded me it was there.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks, old friend, for letting me come in from the rain.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think one of the things I wondered about since my breakup was what it would be like to be with another man. \u00a0To be honest, with so many online encounters focusing right in on sex,\u00a0I remember back to dates like Fish Lips and Bra Boy, and I shudder. This weekend won&#8217;t become one of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dating"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2UnPK-j","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeywrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}