Sparky searches for love on the Internet

After my second marriage crashed and burned in 1994, I joined a precursor to Internet dating called Great Expectations (much controversy about this site now) which proved to be a powerful learning experience for me and enabled me to meet my third wife, who told me that the tiebreaker, in terms of her decision, was seeing my hands in a video which applicants provided. (Go figure)

When my third marriage ended in 2004 I launched myself into the perilous Internet dating river and have been carried along in its powerful current.

Given my strong proletarian background I am embarrassed to say that I proceeded to join an exclusive, elitist, Internet club called “The Right Stuff.” The prerequisites require that a member be a graduate of a very select group of prestigious universities.

Just like many events in my life, this move provided me with enormous educational opportunities. Seventy percent of the women in my age group were looking for escorts to shield them from the vicissitudes of being single women at social events designed for couples. Being” Arm Candy” or, even worse, a “Friend with Benefits “is completely unacceptable to me for many reasons.

Twenty percent of the women wanted bright, articulate, pen pals with whom to dally. While this proved to be great fun and I was able to polish up my poetry, it became quite clear, in time, that this was not my goal.

The astute statisticians among you will quickly realize that five percent of the sample is unaccounted for and this five percent contributed significantly to my advanced graduate school education.

For example, I dated a wonderful, well educated, well spoken, Southern Aristocrat and quickly gained an enormous amount of information from a Confederate perspective. For a Yankee, this was quite a stretch. I also dated a very talented woman who is both a serious landscape painter and someone who writes and illustrates books for children.

It is relevant and appropriate to point out that these relationships, while intimate and even erotic, were not sexual. I was very explicit right from the start that my goal was marriage, and while this at first glance may seem very traditional, indeed patriarchal, I assure you that it represents my own moral path of moving through the world and has nothing to do with “What will people think?” Similarly, my attitude has absolutely nothing to do with religious beliefs but more with spirituality and agape.

It is important to add to the picture the fact that there are nine women I honor who have loved me. Some of these relationships were sexual and some were not. If we add the concepts of limerence, polyamory, and tantric love (Red) to the picture we may come close to the whole story.

My second goal in pursuing these relationships may sound hopelessly romantic, somewhat morbid, or even foolish: I can do that. This goal consists of wanting to die in the arms of my loving wife.

What the outcome of all of this mélange will be is open to conjecture. Rest assured that the reader will be the second person to learn about the next part of my journey.