Sit With Me Awhile

I don’t know when it happened.

I don’t remember making an announcement.

There was no press release, no Facebook event titled “Kelsee Is Now Single.”

And yet somehow…

Men know.

I swear there must be some kind of invisible signal that goes out into the universe the moment a woman becomes single in her mid-30s.

Because suddenly they appear.

At the grocery store.

At the gas pump.

Standing three feet away in the dog food aisle pretending they’ve always been deeply interested in the price of kibble.

It’s almost impressive, really.

One minute I’m minding my own business trying to remember if I already bought milk this week, and the next minute someone is saying something like:

“Hey beautiful.”

Or my personal favorite…

“You look like trouble.”

Sir.

I am standing here holding a box of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and a bottle of laundry detergent.

This is not the mysterious situation you think it is.

And the funny part is, I’m not even dating.

Not even close.

Emotionally I’m still somewhere between healing, raising my kids, writing my blog, and figuring out how to cook meals for fewer people than I used to.

Romance is not exactly at the top of my priority list.

But apparently the world didn’t get that memo.

So now I just walk through life a little more amused than I used to be.

Because the truth is, starting over in your mid-30s comes with a lot of strange moments.

Some of them are painful.

Some of them are humbling.

And some of them are just plain funny.

Like realizing that the moment you become single…

men suddenly develop a supernatural ability to find you in the cereal aisle.

Honestly, I’m starting to think they can smell it.