It's Raining Men

by Dixie Chick

Three years after a very unexpected and very painful divorce, my girlfriends decided it was time for me to jump back into the real world and experience the company of men. They all claimed to have the "perfect man" for me but after several blind dates, I was beginning to get discouraged. It was then that I was introduced to online dating. While I was very hesitant to try this crazy method of meeting men, my girlfriends convinced me it was the right thing to do. What did I have to lose after all.

After several weeks of receiving a variety of potential matches, I finally ran across Michael. His profile seemed to say all the right things and he certainly had the looks to go along with it. After several phone conversations, we decided to meet for drinks. He had some up coming travels related to work so we agreed to meet when he returned in two weeks.

The next day, while skiing with several of my friends, I informed them of my future date and shared with great excitement all that I knew so far about Michael. They agreed that he seemed to be a perfect candidate. Moments later, while having drinks in the lodge, we were approached by a very attractive man. The playful conversation that was shared by the group soon became a conversation for two, as Matthew and I got to know each other a bit. By the end of the evening he had invited me to join him for dinner. I quickly agreed and was very excited about the possibility of getting to know him better. The only problem was that the invitation fell on the same night that I would be meeting Michael. What to do??? Since Michael and I were meeting at 7:00 pm, I asked Matthew if we could have a late dinner around 9:00 or so and he agreed to it. What was I getting myself into?

The big night finally came. Having been married for 20 plus years, any date brought loads of anxiety and now here I was trying to juggle two men in one night. I met Michael as planned. He was a beautiful man, tall dark and handsome, with a sweet gentle way about him. He told me his story...divorced for 9 years, five children, one of five siblings, etc. He had been raised by his grandparents as his parents both died when he was young. His father, a very successful businessman, and his mother had been flying home from the islands and were killed when the small private plane they were on crashed. The story went on and as much as I was enjoying his company, I kept looking at my watch knowing that I would soon have to leave to go meet Matthew. Michael and I ended the evening with a hug and an agreement to meet again the following weekend.

I raced to the restaurant to find Matthew waiting for me at the bar. I had forgotten how attractive he was...blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile that would light up the room. We picked up our conversation from where we left off at the ski lodge and began sharing pieces of our childhood. He began telling me that he was one of five siblings and that he had been raised by his grandparents. Really? How odd. He continued by telling me that his parents had been killed in a plane crash while traveling home from the islands following his fathers business trip. Are you kidding me? This cannot be! I stopped him mid sentence and asked him if he had an older brother..."Yes I do". Any chance his name is Michael?..."Yes" he said with some hesitation in his voice. Divorced 9 years, 5 kids? "Yes, how do you know all of this?" "I just had drinks with him 15 minutes ago!!!"

He almost fell off his chair, as did I. What were the chances that I would ever have 2 dates in one evening, let alone they would end up being brothers! I explained how I'd met Michael online which came as an even bigger surprise to him. Matthew thought online dating was for people who were really desperate and couldn't believe his brother had stooped to that level! After the shock wore off, we laughed for hours over it.

That was 5 years ago and I am still laughing about it. I never went out with either of them again as I became the subject of some pretty intense sibling rivalry. These days when I meet someone for the first time, I always ask them to bring along a copy of their family tree!

This story was assigned the following "tags" (keywords) by its author and our editors: disbelief irony

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