Dear Mary Angel,

I told Cristal about my lunch buddy last night. She wasn't angry-- probably because of how I presented LeNee, but she was jealous, as I knew she would be. You see, Cristal does love me, but she'll never marry me. She won't marry anyone-- she is the daughter her father raised. And while I can choose to lament the fact that twenty years have been wasted hoping for Cristal to see I am not her father, I am choosing instead to approach women who will accept me at face value... who will have lunch with me and share conversation without the baggage of 'dating.' Because I am NOT dating LeNee`. I made that clear at the outset when I asked her to lunch a couple of weeks ago.

I was nervous when I asked... BIG time, and I babbled a bit. I knew in my heart that I am very, VERY attracted to her, but I insisted I was not asking to date her... just lunch... for now, though I didn't actually say that. I'll know in time if she's even interested in dating. But for now, I don't have any friends to speak of, and I'm very interested in learning how to be a friend, and LeNee is just right for me in that respect. She's even interested in being my movie buddy. How cool is that? Too cool.

More to follow, I'm sure, but for now please take care. I hope all is well with you and yours.

Till next time, all my love,

Eric