I don’t know if I’ve ever revealed this or not, but I am a big fan of the Star Trek franchise. In particular, Star Trek: The Next Generation was my first real foray into the franchise. There was an episode in the sixth season of TNG called “Relics”. In it, James Doohan from the classic series reprises his role as Scotty. Through a near miracle, he is alive and well nearly 80 years after the end of the original Star Trek movies.

Scotty is aboard the Enterprise D, and is having a hard time acclimating to life in the 24th century. So he gets a bottle of actual alcohol and goes into a computer simulation of the original Enterprise’s bridge (as seen in classic Star Trek). It’s great fan-service, as we get a chance to see not only a classic character, but a remake of the classic Enterprise’s bridge.

He was joined there by Captain Picard who shares a drink with him. The two of them begin talking about previous assignments. Captain Picard explains that his first ship was one called the Stargazer, and even though it was inferior to the Enterprise, Picard admits that sometimes he would give almost anything to be in command of the Stargazer again. Scotty reminisces about the original Enterprise, the first ship that he was ever a chief engineer for. Scotty goes on to say that of all the ships he ever served on, the original Enterprise is the only ship that he ever actually thought about from his past. Captain Picard suggests that perhaps Scotty could use his resources and knowledge and become an engineer again. Scotty tells Picard that he is no longer a kid, an that he is past the age of falling in love.

Now, Scotty was talking about “falling in love” in more figurative sense. But I wonder sometimes if this applies in real life to relationships as well. Sometimes I feel like I have passed a point in my life for falling in love or even getting into a serious, committed relationship.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the Bookkeeper a lot. We have a lot of fun together, and we have even confided that we love each other. But it doesn’t feel the way that it has for me and other previous relationships.

Sometimes I think that maybe that’s because I’ve become more jaded and more guarded when entering relationships. Other times I don’t think that’s so true. Take the Buckeye, for instance, I was completely flipped for her. I felt “it”. Of course, things with her didn’t work out. She tried to let me down gently, and then eventually revealed to me that she was getting back together with her husband. Again little, maybe that experience has made me even more guarded in matters of the heart.

Is it possible for a person to be “too old” to fall in love? I think for some people, if they’re not willing to open themselves up, maybe. Do I think that I am too old to fall in love? Not if the right person comes along. But I must admit, it feels like it’s getting tougher.