Free Advice: On Falling in Love - Part Four

He was a handsome, charming fireman with a killer smile who moonlighted in the hospital as a Respiratory Therapist.

 The word on the street was that he was married with three kids as well. So much for that. The brakes of my heart came to a grinding halt.

Occasionally, I would see him in the hospital and we would talk about how Rob was progressing. Unfortunately, Rob was not making progress and our conversations became very emotional. Laughing, I would regale him with stories of Rob (and my) antics. Tearfully, I would fill him in on the latest complication in Rob's illness. I was a nutcase and I could care less what he thought of me. I allowed myself the freedom to be emotionally transparent.

Life continued on. Rob died, Betsy died and I remained lost.

I would see Doug at the hospital every now and then. One day, he asked me out to lunch. I was shocked. How could this married man with three kids even think of asking me out? "Yeah, maybe we should get together sometime" was my vague response.

I called Kathy, my go-to girl in all things love-related... "Joanie, lunch is lunch. Lunch is not sleeping with someone or getting married. Go to lunch and ask him what his situation is straight-out" she advised.

The next time I saw him, we agreed on a date to meet. Love: Part 5