Weird Romance: Cathy & Alex

Cathy's relationship with men can be described as being desperate, while also being unsatisfied seekers of perfection only to attract disasters, and being the inspiration for missing Newspaper Comic Collection titles.

And in the rare occasions where there were acceptable men, they were either too good for her, leading the lead character to back off out of fear that there might be something wrong with someone who'd want her as a companion, or snapped up by her friends later.

Early on, there was a kind accepting boyfriend, Emerson, who had all the qualities Cathy wanted in a man, but just not in his kind of man.  And he was quickly forgotten.

For the most part, her definitive man was Irving, an irrepressible clueless jerk who was somehow endearing despite his faults.  He would be the backdrop against all the other awful men Cathy would go out with, serving as a barometer gauge of awfulness.

But there was one instance where Cathy found a potential soul mate that would wind up being one of her longest lasting relationships over the course of a year.  It all started innocuously enough in January 31st of 1994 when she signed up for gym membership.

Cathy is described as being a lot of things, (overeater, overdoer, workaholic, shopaholic) but a Cougar isn't normally one of them.

The following isn't Alex-related, but I decided to include it for continuity's sake in showing Cathy's reaction later.

I don't have a date for this Sunday, but this seems like the appropriate place to put it.

To further present the divide between Cathy and Alex, Alex decided to go on a camping trip.

If there's one complaint about Alex, it's that compared to Irving, there wasn't as much argumentative drama.  Alex was simply too easygoing, and his childish immaturity was more a core character than a fault.  If anything, he seemed simply too good for Cathy.

Assault on Irving was something that was deserved, but the same level of violence aimed towards Alex lacked that same sense of reciprocity.  It seemed somehow... mean.

Then in an attempt to impress everyone involved, Cathy decided to undertake the laborous task of preparing Thanksgiving dinner all by herself.

Of course, when anybody ventures out into new territory, they have a tendency to fall back on the old patterns they're most familiar with.

Cathy's relationship with Alex while fraught, was still healthier than with Irving, and was said so in a Newspaper article I managed to find, back when going through physical microfiche archives was still possible.

At the beginning of February, we were treated to a teaser of what we could expect: the usual itinerary of anxiety of an approaching Valentine's Day and all the implied pressure it carries.

And then on February 14, 1995, a year after Cathy met Alex, without any fanfare foreshadowing or buildup, we were suddenly faced with this:

This isn't the last that Cathy and Alex would see each other, but this post is running long enough already, easily outpacing my Epic BC posts.  Maybe I'll post a followup sometime next year.