"Yesterday's Gone"

Every now and then something happens that says to your inside self, "Face it, Yesterday's Gone."  Rarely are we aware of that kind of moment for someone else.  But occasionally....

I ran into a friend a few days ago, not a particularly close friend, but someone I've known for five or six years.  This friend of mine is one of those blessed men who are really good looking. I mean, REALLY good looking!  He's a nice guy too, but, like a lot of guys, he is a born flirt!  I think we all know one at some point in our lives.  He likes women, he enjoys them, and he makes any woman he's talking to feel special.  Now he's not smarmy or creepy or anything, just nice to look at and talk too.  Some guys have the gift, you know?  

He was not only attracted by women, the combination of  looks and charm and personality, made him equally attractive to women!  In a social situation, there were usually two or three women of varying ages paying court to him.  He didn't seem to mind it a bit.  In fact, I'm pretty sure  that was fairly standard throughout his whole life. 

He was married and had two beautiful teenage daughters. A few years ago, after a 17 or 18 year marriage, there was a divorce between him and his wife.  These things happen and my friend moved out to his own place. 

So there he was a single, good-looking guy in a nice house of his own.  After a time he was looking forward to dating again.  Why not?  Nobody likes being alone for long.  He took a lot of ribbing about the "wild and crazy" life he was going to have.  You know, women in and out day and night.  But I never heard any evidence of that kind of thing at all.  He dated a bit and I was kind of surprised that he didn't seem to hook up with anyone permanently.

His daughters were having some difficulty with the divorce and they wanted to move in with Dad.  So one at a time, they did.

I hadn't seen him for several months, but I knew things were not so easy for him right now (we have mutual friends).  He was a victim of the economic downturn and he was laid off from his job of over 12 years.  So when I saw him, we were talking and he told me he hadn't yet found a replacement, money was tight but he had a few irons in the fire, so he was hopeful.  Unfortunately as we talked I realized that his face was drawn and tight, his hair had greyed quite a bit, and although he was still nice looking, his sharp, knock 'em over good looks had begun to fade.  He looked tired.  There were some lines and a couple of wrinkles.  He was beginning to look his age.

He told me his daughters were in college and still living with him. 
As a matter of fact, a couple of their friends moved in too.  Their parents were okay with it, because the girls had grown up together and the families knew each other well, and besides, there was Dad as chaperone-in-residence.   Everybody was happy.

Well, everybody but my friend.  He was laughing when he told me about living in a house with five 18-19 year old girls.  He said it was like living his worst nightmare!  Being surrounded by all these young pretty ladies, and they all thought of him as a dad!   Oh how the mighty have fallen!

I don't know if he realizes it yet but I don't think he'll be getting the same kind of attention from the ladies (shallow as we can be) anymore.  I don't know if he realizes that "Yesterday's Gone" and he has joined the rest of us on that slow downward slope.

It's really kind of sad, you don't often get to meet someone who is movie-star handsome in real life.  Poor guy, I'm afraid he'll have a hard time letting it go.