Golden Age Dating

CHAPTER

One

REY SAT IN FRONT of the TV, searching for something to watch. She found a show on the documentary channel about a sixty-year-old looking for love. Okay, she said to herself, let’s see what this is about.

The program featured a divorced woman who’d decided to document her experience in looking for a loving relationship. Rey thought the program reflected a harsh reality. It showed a series of disappointing, embarrassing experiences that made it seem there was something pathetic in the attempt to find a loving relationship at that age. There was nothing positive about the experience. Rey felt angry and sad.

The next day, when she spoke with Batya, her spiritual mentor and best friend, she told her about the program and described her feelings at length. You know, she said, if I’d watch that show without knowing what I do and knowing that it can be different, I might have made an unbreakable vow to never get involved in the dating circle, in order not to expose myself to those experiences. Luckily, I know it can be different.

True, answered Batya. You experienced something entirely different.

Indeed, said Rey. There are disappointments, of course, and embarrassments, like in many situations at any age. That is part of the process. I can honestly say that for me, it was a unique, enriching experience. I have learned what is happening, what has changed in the interaction between men and women, and what is new. Most importantly, I learned about myself—not to mention all of the people I met on the way. Some are wonderful people, and some are not so much, but I can truly say I would not have passed on this opportunity.

So why don’t you write about it? suggested Batya. "Write about your experience. Write a book, and call it Golden Age Dating."

Wow, said Rey after a moment. That’s quite an idea. And the title hits the bull’s-eye. Dating and the golden age seem to be unrelated subjects. True?

True, answered Batya. Dates are bars, drinks, flirting, sex, and excitement.

Good time for the young. The golden age, on the other hand, suggests nursing homes, doctors, medication, and geriatrics. But that’s not necessarily true.

Ladies, I have news for you, Rey thought. Buckle up. We are about to hit the road. It’s a road to new horizons and new possibilities from a different angle, if you so wish. It’s your call.

The women of Rey’s generation were expected to be modest, obedient, and virgins on their wedding night. Sex was something they never discussed, a word they could find only in dictionaries. They were curious and had questions but did not have anyone to ask. The girls grew up with bits and pieces of information that showed complete ignorance, such as the notions that boys had periods too and that when people made love, they lay on top of each other all night. That sounded uncomfortable.

Rey got married when she was nineteen after a boring and frustrating military service. She wanted to be trained and become an officer, but at the time, the higher-ups didn’t consider women’s wishes or qualifications, so she was sent to do clerical work in an army camp warehouse.

She wanted to be free and get away from her parents’ responsibility. She loved Amiram, or at least she thought she did. She believed with all of her heart that getting married and having a husband would make up for all of the bad things that had happened to her, and her life would be filled with wine and roses like in the movies.

She was not a virgin on her wedding night, but Amiram was the one who had picked her cherry. Rey had no sexual experience and no idea how things worked in bed. The truth was, she was not particularly impressed with the whole thing. Given the choice between sex and a banana split, she preferred the latter. Amiram thought he was the ultimate lover and a maven when it came to women, and Rey had thought her first lovemaking would be like the description in Hemingway’s book For Whom the Bell Tolls, when the woman felt the earth move, but the only thing she felt moving was Amiram.

It took her four years to realize that marriage was not what she’d expected. Amiram was tall and handsome, with beautiful green eyes and long lashes. He was the hunk in the band and a good guy. However, their life together, with his family in the same house and little privacy, was putting pressure on her and made her uncomfortable. She never had a key to the house, and her mother-in-law was possessive of her son, even hostile at times. After the wedding, she started looking for a job, and when she received her first paycheck, Amiram asked her to give him the money. He then gave her a monthly allowance for lunch and bus fare.

She was annoyed and angry.

Rey started looking for a way to get out of her premature marriage. She was not going to bury her life at the age of twenty-four. If she was unhappy, she would get up and leave. As of now, she was in charge of her life. She worked, and she earned a nice salary, meaning she was independent and needed no one’s permission for anything. Her parents were horrified by her decision and didn't know how to handle it.

Rey’s parents had divorced when she was six years old. When her father tried to convince her to stay with Amiram and talk her out of getting a divorce, she said to him, You don’t have a say in this matter. This is my life, and I know what is good for me. Besides, you got divorced from Mom, so how can you advise me on the subject?

He answered, I did not want to get divorced. It was your mother’s wish. To be a divorced woman at the time was quite unpleasant due to the fact that men saw divorced women as secondhand goods—easy prey.

Rey didn’t worry much about it. Fear of stigma was not a good reason to stay married. Besides, she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

Once she’d made up her mind, she left Amiram and moved in with a girlfriend. She took with her only a blanket, a pillow, a bed sheet, a couple of towels, and some personal stuff. She also got a farewell present from Amiram. He said, You look hot, but the truth is, in bed, you are not worth much.

She felt tremendous relief. She was free to do as she pleased, and that was enough—for now.

CHAPTER

Two

A YEAR AFTER SHE got her divorce, Rey met Mike and fell head over heels in love with him. The first time they made love, he said to her, When I am with you, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Amiram, did you hear that? Eat your heart out, she thought.

They broke up after six months. The timing was bad. Mike had just gotten divorced after ten years of marriage and two kids. He left everything to his wife just for the privilege of seeing the children at any time.

Rey was heartbroken. She thought maybe she could find a way to change his mind, but a year later, she realized that was not going to happen, and she gave up.

She decided to quit her job of seven years—at a place that was almost like home for her, especially since her divorce—and make a leap of faith into the unknown.

She got a job as an executive secretary in an oil field on the Sinai Peninsula. Everybody told her she was crazy, she shouldn’t leave a steady job, the Sinai was the Wild West and not a place for her, and she was making a huge mistake. However, the opportunity was too tempting, and the salary was three times more than she was earning, so she packed a bag, went to Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv, and boarded a DC-9 army plane. On both sides of the aircraft were long, narrow seats. That type of army plane originally had been made for paratroopers.

Those were the days of the war of attrition in the Suez Canal. The passengers on the plane joked about watching for Egyptian MiG jet fighters. Rey was afraid of flying, even though she had flown before.

Sometime during the flight, the door of the cockpit opened, and a big guy wearing overalls, with a severe look on his face, came out and looked through the small windows.

He is searching for Egyptian MiG jet fighters, whispered one of the passengers, who giggled.

Who is he? Rey asked.

He is the pilot, the passenger said.

Rey felt cold sweat covering her body and thought, If this is the pilot, who is flying the airplane? I must have been out of my mind when I decided to work in a place like this.

After one hour, the aircraft landed on a strip in the desert, close to the beach but nothing else. The aircraft door opened, and a staircase was wheeled to the opening. The passengers started going down the steps as a gust of hot wind blew, and a flight attendant dressed in an orange miniskirt and a green shirt greeted them. She held the passenger list in one hand and her skirt in the other. She checked the names of the arriving passengers.

When Rey approached her, she asked, Are you the field manager’s new secretary?

Rey said, Yes. My name is Rey.

Okay. I am Marina. You can come with me to the office. We will go have lunch, and then I shall introduce you to the boss, the oil field manager.

They got into a pickup truck at the side of the runway and rode together. The oil field looked like an army camp. The offices were a group of wooden buildings in a square shape. In the middle of the yard was a white cut-cement pillar. Here was once a statue of Abdel Nasser, Marina said, referring to the former Egyptian president. They went into one of the offices, and Marina gave Rey a form to fill out. Then they walked to the camp dining room.

Rey could not figure out what she felt. The fear she’d felt earlier had been replaced by a feeling of awe at being in the desert, on the beach, and in the mountains, natural features from the beginning of time. The place had a primal quality. She was overwhelmed with excitement and on the verge of tears.

In the afternoon, she met her boss, the oilfield manager. He was a good-looking man about fifty years old and was pleasant. In his office, he explained the specifics of her duties as the oil field manager’s secretary and his expectations of her. Here we work ten days in a row, including weekends and holidays, and then you fly home and get five days off. On your days off, one of the other office girls will replace you, and you have to update each other to ensure the work order.

Rey’s office looked pretty basic. It seemed not much had changed since the Egyptians occupied the place. The phones were for communication inside the oil field. There was also an SSB radio to communicate with the company’s head office in Tel Aviv. On the wall were area maps and the oil field, along with photographs of the tank batteries and oil production charts. Everything was new, unfamiliar, fascinating, and somewhat scary. The girls in the other offices told her they would love to show her the ropes.

During the afternoon, there was a lot of traffic along the office area. Zoe, one of the secretaries, came into Rey’s office with a big smile. Don’t be alarmed, she said. "Word got out that