This week I had to opportunity to spend time with two young women on a long car ride into town. I always love talking with the youth and getting their perspective on things. Somehow we wandered into the topic of dating and I simply asked them, “Do you find you have a type of boy you’re attracted to?”

They both giggled at the question and surprised me by their different answers. One offered a list of physical traits that all the boys she’d dated so far seem to share. The other one said, “I don’t care what they look like, I just want them to get me, even when I don’t know how to explain myself very well.”

While I could appreciate her being able to get past always looking at the physical appearance, I couldn’t help but tease her. “So…you’re a ‘I need you to read my mind’ kind of girl.”

She blushed and shook her head. “Not exactly. I just have a hard time expressing myself, but my close girlfriends always seemed to get what I’m saying. I just want a boyfriend that can do that too.”

“I see…you need an empath.”

“What does that mean?” she asked me.

“A person who is sensitive to the emotions of others, they can often just feel them when they walk into a room. My oldest son has this empathetic personality. I have never been able to hide my real feelings from him. He knows when I’m upset, even when I keep lying and say that I’m not.”

“Is you husband that way too?”

“Kind of, but not to the level of my son. I’ve never seen anyone who seems to know how to comfort others like my son always does.”

“Oo…is he available?”

“He’s twenty-one.”

The fifteen-year-old girl’s face crumpled. “Dang it. Maybe after I graduate I’ll come look him up.”

I laughed. “Well…if you show up on my doorstep in a couple of years, and he’s still available, I’ll wish you luck.”

Oh, if my shy, empathic son had been in the car he would have been bright red. And the thought made me laugh even harder.