Hunky teacher is fair game years after graduation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2019 (2613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: Wow, I’m stunned! I just heard that the gorgeous male teacher I had a major crush on in high school is going to be attending our school reunion! I must admit I’m all a-flutter. He wasn’t that much older — in his mid-20s when I was 17 — and I knew he had a thing for me, because I’d catch him staring at me, just like I stared at him. If I caught him, his stare would slowly turn into a smile.

He danced one waltz with me at graduation. It was heaven! But I gave up those dreams of him years ago. Then just recently I heard he was married for a time, and now he’s single again. So am I! Timing could be with us this time. He’d be in his 30s. Do you think there’d be a problem if we got together now?

— Dreaming of Him Again, Manitoba

Dear Dreaming: Now that you’re a grown-up, and you and he are both single and way past your school years, what problem could there be? Good luck, and please let us know how it goes! Many people had big crushes on teachers of both sexes in school.

We had a married female high school teacher in my hometown of Manitou who figured in a lot of young guys’ daydreams. She was totally out of reach for them, but beautiful and witty, and they thought she was really “it.”

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I met a man wearing a red sweater and a crazy hat on Canada Day at The Forks and we spent a lot of hours talking and drinking and dancing, and at the end of the night we kissed, and then we both went to our cars without any last names or contact numbers.

It must have been the beer that made us forget to make it possible to meet again. Or was he trying to ditch me because maybe he belongs to somebody else? I have to find him! How can I?

— Just A Fling? South Osborne St.

Dear Fling: Go over your conversations with Mr. X over the evening. What’s he interested in? What kind of work does he do? Does he belong to any clubs or teams? What kind of music does he like to go to hear?

Remember, Winnipeg is a small town. If you started off with a group of friends there who also met him, ask them all where they think you would find him again. It’s highly likely someone knows someone who knows him.

Otherwise, the tough lesson learned is: get that number! And get it early on in the night, before you get too busy laughing, drinking and dancing to remember. If you don’t, there’ll be no more time spent with that exciting new person. By the way, you’re right about the other possibility. Maybe he’s taken — dating someone or married. But it’s still worth finding out!

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My husband was an oaf, and now his new wife has turned him into a gentleman. I saw him at a wedding recently and I couldn’t believe how he dressed, greeted people, held his new lady’s arm and brought her champagne, though he didn’t have any.

I just gawked. Could this really be him?I It was. His pot-belly is gone and so are his ugly teeth, replaced by a beautiful-looking smile. I mean, this guy, who wouldn’t clean up for me, has totally cleaned up his act with her, and he’s gone from a frog to a prince. Why didn’t he do that when he was with me? All he did was drink himself stupid.

— Shocked Ex-Wife, St. James

Dear Shocked: If drinking was the problem, then his current wife may have inspired him to stop (or demanded it) and all the rest followed. It seems he’s beguiled by her, and maybe she gave him confidence to get help for his addiction.

Perhaps she’s more subtle than most women who want to change their guy into something better. Maybe she also had a little money to invest in him. Or maybe he had a lot more money for new things (like a dentist or denturist) after he quit drinking his dollars away.

Don’t berate yourself or allow jealousy to eat at you. You and he were just not the right combination. Next time, don’t fall for someone who obviously needs fixing. It’s much easier to look for a ready-made prince than to go looking for another frog to make over.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

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