The day of the date had arrived. She had a stupid busy day at work, and it was mid-morning when she first wrote down the date and realized it was her wedding anniversary. It would have been 12 years.
A pain hit her chest and her eyes filled with tears unexpectedly. She wanted to text him. What would she say? Her throat constricted. She would have to put it out of her mind for now to concentrate at work without falling apart.
Her mind kept wandering back to it throughout the day, but she had to go straight to rehearsal after work so she couldn't think about it for long. She felt terrible, unknowingly making a first date on the day of her anniversary. This date was doomed from the start, as he didn't really look very attractive from his photo. She didn't immediately feel that "spark" she guessed.
She got a text on her way to the date. Her ex said "Happy Anniversary, which I realize isn't really an anniversary anymore, but it still feels like I should send you something positive today as it has been an important day in our past and I would like it to be something to celebrate our friendship going forward. So I hope you have a great day today."
She stopped in the parking lot, and making her date wait, she responded "Thank you. I've been struggling to send you a message today, so thank you for reaching out. Even though the love is different, I still love you."
She wiped the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath, and proceeded to have a date with the most vanilla man she'd ever met. He was at good listening, but not great and making her feel understood or validated in her opinions. He was a crisis counselor with zero interesting stories. Before the food even came, she knew there would be no second date.
