The first date. In a very, very long time.

For some reason, he had thought he'd have a chance if he asked her to the dance. Always the optimist. Though never confident. It was something he didn't understand right now but somehow knew this trait (flaw?) would be important to him one day.

Tonight, however, he was fifteen (nearly sixteen), and he was about to take the most beautiful girl in his world to the school dance. That he'd found the courage (or lost his mind enough) to ask her in the first place was nearly a month behind him. That she'd said yes was a fantastic and unbelievable concoction. Tonight was the night, and here he stood at her front door, ready to knock.

Strange, that a memory from 40 years ago flashed into his immediate existence, just as he was about to knock on another door. A lifetime later.

He remembered the long wait for that door to open. Then, behind her smiling mother, his eyes locked onto her almost mystical appearance - his date. The most beautiful girl his nearly 16 years old eyes had ever seen.

What a moment for a flashback, the night he was taking out his first online date. And, due to a long email courtship period, he knew it was her first time as well.

His first eBay date. No, wait! eHarmony date. Perhaps it was an innate scepticism of this whole internet dating thing that he always got the two mixed up.

Friends (and their daughters as it turned out) had advised meeting somewhere neutral for the first time. The emails and phone calls had helped them each feel comfortable about this 'traditional' first date process. The 'man picks up woman' approach was the way it had been done when either of them had last dated. (He was pretty sure, though, that her mother wouldn't open the door.)

Both had been married for very long periods and had taken a long time to come to terms with the idea of another relationship. They'd endured some well-meant setups and somewhat less innocent approaches that friends, family or acquaintances had arranged (or inflicted). They just hadn't been ready.

But lately, they had each sensed the timing was right to meet someone new and here they were - either side of a door.

So, a fifty-five-year-old man with a lifetime of experiences behind him was about to knock on a door. About to go on a date?! OMG! his daughter had texted with a smiley face. The next text had daughter-explained what OMG meant but, after numerous dad-joke texts to her, he already knew. Wait, had she daughter-joked him?

So he knocked, a jamble of nerves, anticipation and a somehow comforting random flashback.

OMG indeed.