I officially give up dating.

39 and (re)tired.

Growing up in Germany, ‘dating’ wasn’t really a thing. Growing up ultra-conservative-Christian, ‘dating’ most definitely was not a thing. Growing up as a Sicilian immigrant, my parents didn’t even let me talk to boys. Dating is one of those Americanisms that eventually found its way across the pond and into other cultures, but back then (by back then I mean twenty years ago), the idea of “going on dates” felt foreign. If you liked someone, you asked them if they liked you too. And if the answer was yes, well, that was it. You were ‘together.’ Simple. Done. No games, no ambiguity. We didn’t even have a word for dating. You were either ‘together’ or you were not. You wouldn’t be out there trying different people on for size (To be clear, I don’t think trying people on for size is a bad thing).