Chose Wisely

The title of this song says it all.  Though Mary didn’t come out with it until 1977 the song takes me back to 1970.  As I’ve mentioned in numerous other memories I was coming out of a dark period in my life when this memory happened.
 I had been seeing a widower that was indeed “a great catch”.  A good looking man who owned his own successful business, had a private pilot’s license (he was working on his commercial license), belonged to, among others, a wine tasting club, and made the best margaritas in town.  Every date with him was an occasion.  His only flaw was that he was still mourning the untimely death of his wife to cancer four years earlier.  At the time, while I understood his grief, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take the chance that he would still want me when he came back to the living.
 He was out of town on business when a less stellar catch entered my life.  This one was incredibly handsome, far more exciting in a reckless way, and totally unpredictable.  Yet, with all his flaws I was immediately hooked.
 For nearly six months the two of them dominated my life and I wondered which would I choose if I had to do so.  Thankfully it never really came to that.  One disappeared on his own, without comment and the other finally admitted he wasn’t ready for anything more than friendship.  Hindsight, they say, is always 20/20.  Were I faced with the choice now I would still not know which I would choose as I remember them both kindly for the experience of knowing them.