Seeing my mom date again in her 50s has been surreal
My parents divorced a few years ago after being together forever and I still do not think my brain fully adjusted to seeing my mom date again. The first time she told me she was going out with somebody I almost choked on my coffee, not because she should not date or anything it just felt strange hearing my mom talk about being nervous before a dinner date like she was suddenly thirty years younger again.
Now she sends me screenshots asking what certain texts mean and once called me from a parking lot because she could not figure out if a guy hugging her twice at the end of dinner meant he liked her or was just being polite. Part of me laughs about it because it is kind of adorable then another part of me gets a little emotional sometimes too. Watching your parent download dating apps after being married for decades feels a little like seeing your middle school teacher at a nightclub because your brain understands it is normal and yet some part of you still cannot process it.
A few months ago she told me dating in your 50s feels like showing up halfway through musical chairs because everybody already has exes, routines, baggage, grown kids, all this history attached to them. I do not know. The older I get the more I realize nobody ever fully figures life out. Your parents just get better at hiding it for a while until you start seeing them as actual people instead of only your parents.