Martinis at Midnight

The Crantini Martini

The Crantini Martini

As always insight comes to me in the latest hour of the evening. Why is it that when you plan the funniest evenings, you always end up alone? This is an evening of being disappointed. An evening of being pissed off at your best girl friend, and an evening of just being confused about an old love. It is an evening when you need a night out with the girls more than ever; you just need to go out and dance and forget about everything. But you are at home with a great martini and some wicked tunes, and this is when you decide that all great insight comes out in a martini and music

Why is it that music causes all the great reflections in life? Any song can take you back to years gone by and great memories. Some memories are like a favorite martini - they are always there for you to go back to, and they always make you smile. The Crantini is a drink that will always do this. I started drinking this martini right after the end of my relationship with my first love. The Crantini became my new love and it is the one that has never left me. The Crantini is just not vodka and cranberry juice; it is a martini and it needs to be made with love and shaken and poured into a chilled martini glass just like the other ones. It is a martini that you can always order, but it often gets forgotten. I think the perfect combination is vodka with cranberry juice and a splash of lime cordial or triple sec just to give it a bit of a kick. The Crantini has just the right amount of tartness and it is so ruby red in the glass that it is just simply stunning. The cranberries floating on the top give it the perfect finish. .

As I am sipping my good old reliable Crantini by myself, an old tune comes on the radio. It makes me smile and remember my first love; it was the song that he always used to sing to me. How ironic is it that I heard this song? Considering I had just had dinner with him a few nights ago? It was an interesting evening - a night when you face your first love and try to figure out all the unanswered questions.

Considering my girlfriend had stood me up, I was left with only myself and my Crantini to ponder the events of a few nights ago. When I walked in to dinner,

“I was amazed that this guy looked exactly the same as he did 16 years ago, no aging! Damn it!”

That was just not fair. My only consolation was that I knew that I looked way better than I did 16 years ago. Thank God for better hair and great shoes. As I ordered my Crantini, we just started talking like we had never stopped. You know you are truly friends with someone when you can just pick up where you left off, even if 8 years have gone by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We laughed and talked about each other's lives. He was married with two kids and I was single and living the life, but we both shared some great life experiences.After a few martinis we decided that you never really know what you have at 19 years old. You love so much more freely, because there are no scars and boundaries from the past hurts. You also think that there is always something better! You also think that you know everything because you are now 19 and an adult.

What we concluded was that he ended up with the life that I had thought I wanted and I got the life that he wanted. Very ironic really, because according to him, the reason why we split up was because he did not think we had any activities in common. Hilarious, considering I am doing everything that he no longer has the time to do! As we talked later into the night, I realized that my once fun-loving boyfriend was actually very sad, the victim of a loveless and unfaithful marriage. A man I wanted only the best for had settled for something less than all he deserved. But the saddest part was that he was in complete denial of his own unhappiness. Maybe because he wanted to put up the front that he was ok, but I could tell that it was a load of crap.

I re-thought my decision for a late night drink because I realized that I would probably have some great regrets in the morning. As I declined the drink, I gave my first love a hug and a kiss goodbye. On my way home I realized that years ago I had been given the choice of two different paths in life. I smiled to myself; thank God I had chosen the path that I was on, because even though I was single I had made the choice not to settle.

Conclusion:

Lots of things remind us of our past. An old song and a good martini are very similar; they are both a good old reliable. They both guarantee a smile! When you are faced with the realization of the past it can sometimes be a little tart just like the Crantini. You can never replace your first love, because of the freedom that you both shared. However, that does not mean that you can not have a better love. True love is found within yourself and when you love yourself for a long time; it is that love that will not let you settle for anything but the best. A Crantini is the best martini because it loves you and it never leaves. It will always be the martini that triggers the memory of the best times in your life…so far!

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Copyrights: 2005 by Marjory Cheales