The Marine in Brief

My pal Smyres likes to say that if you want to know what I'm about to do, you should ask me what I'm never going to do again. In this case, it was date someone significantly younger than myself. And yet, here I am, some weeks later, googly-eyed over the Marine, who is, for those of you who are paying attention, a full seven years younger than your humble narrator.

This doesn't seem to matter, though, as he's significantly more grown up than the usual 25-year-old. For that matter, he's significantly more grown up that I am. (But let's not tell him. He's still impressed with me.)

I've dragged him to several outings with my friends so far and he's charmed the pants off of everyone. My favorite endorsement so far is from my friend Joe, who said: "Your beau seems like a nice guy. Nice, like, he could snap my neck if he wanted to, but he totally wouldn't do that."

Manners are important!