Eh, OK.

Folk Music Jam.

My buddy and I went out for a night of live music and a couple beers.
To say I had fallen off the wagon would imply that my problem had been anything other than self made.
I had decided that, since I hadn't missed it, I wasn't an alcoholic.
So I allowed myself light beer.
Never got drunk. Always kept it to a limit of 4.
It was a social thing.
I do that to this day. I rarely make it to 4 before I am ready to go home and get into bed.

Anyway, we went to the Folk Music Jam. Very crowded. Music was great.
My buddy introduced me to a girl named Shawn.

Tall. Really tall. Brown hair. Very pretty. Did I mention tall?
She was an MBA student. Had graduated with her Bachelor's, gone and worked a couple of years, then returned for her Master's.
Very smart, very sharp, very nice.

She asked me out. Really. I was shocked. It hadn't crossed my mind to go out with her.

We went to play miniature golf. It was fun. We kissed at the end of the night. That felt nice...but strange.

We went out several more times, and pretty soon, we were a couple.

She was a great girl.

And I couldn't have cared less.

She knew nothing about me that I didn't want her to know. I kept her at an arm's length.
I didn't let her get close to me. I wouldn't. I couldn't.

I knew how that song ends, and I wasn't dancing.

I liked Shawn. She was interesting. She was funny. She was smart. She was very pretty.

And I couldn't have cared less.

In the end, she graduated and got a job in Miami.

She left, and I couldn't have cared less.

I had found the pattern for my relationships with other people.