So confused! Where do I stand...

It's not at all uncommon for relationships to develop between people who have bonded through the experience of tragedies or difficult situations. As a matter of fact, I recall reading an article a few years back about the number of WTC survivors and of those who lost family members and friends who developed relationships with others who experienced the loss. In the article, a psychologist explained that there are several reasons for this to occur, but the ones that come to mind are: a) the commonality- in the same way that people are drawn to each other by having common interests, tragedy is a mutual experience; b) the high emotional state & vulnerability- when one experiences such a loss, emotions are heightened & it is common to form emotional attachments to people, places & things that provide comfort; c) renewed sense of the value of life-the realization that life is short and a drive to make every moment count often drives people into taking risks and living for the moment; d) romanticism- the tragedy and mutual loss become the basis for a feeling of being "soul mates" and the event(s) as divine intervention in bringing about their relationship. The article went on to say that while some of these relationships may succeed, many do not. Sustaining such relationships comes from the discovery and development of a commonality that it completely removed from the events and emotions that initially brought them together. I am wondering if this could apply to your situation. Your meeting and friendship came about because you had both experienced divorce and was "moved along" by your own grief of being alone and his feelings of loss for the death of his brother. When you stress how much you enjoy talking to him, it sounds as though he is fulfilling a need that you have to be connected to someone-to not feel alone. You don't, however, even hint that you are attracted to him physically or romantically. Could it be that you are misinterpreting your need for a friendship-and male companionship-with romantic interest? Could it be that you are mistaking his interest in you as a valued friend and comforter for something more? I have no way of knowing, but this may be something worth contemplating. Ask yourself this--since your marriage ended, have you "become whole" again? Or are you wanting a relationship to fulfill you and take away the "humdrums"? Sorry about the block of text, but my iPad doesn't recognize paragraphs :(