Monogamous Non Relationships

I have an old friend who is a bit of an enigma.

I love him dearly and he has seen me through the good, the bad and the ugly.  A sounding board for all my daily wins, losses and catastrophes, he has been a constant for me in a forever evolving path.

He is the first one to say I should be out there having fun, that I should be focused on that and not falling in love.  As much as he professes he won’t settle down, he has gone through his share of what we like to call “monogamous non-relationships”.  I love the fact that he views this as a happy alternative.  Don’t get me wrong, he is a kind and gentle man who always treats a woman right. 

But I want to know, what the hell is a "non-relationship"?!? 

If you are spending intimate moments with only one person, isn't that a relationship?  He thinks he is fooling the system but I think he is knee deep in it! 

He has been blessed with the knowledge that a lot of men lack, how to make a woman happy and keep her happy.  Every woman’s best friend and a man true to his word, he makes every woman feel special and inspires her to do things she never thought possible.  He sees her potential, not her limitations.

Amazingly, he is able to keep great friendships with all his past lovers, a feat many men would be reluctant to want to accomplish.  I often envy him for the ease in which he maneuvers in and out of this “non relationships”, although I do feel that in some way he longs to find the “one”. 

So what is making these "non-relationships" work for him?  I think I figured it out.

Expectations.

There are no crazy, honey-why-aren't-you-calling-me-twelve-times-a-day, crying into your pillow, waiting by the phone, nagging demands being placed on either partner. 

Maybe I needed to look at things the way he did.

Maybe he had a point.
(P.S. He is totally in love right now and is IN a relationship!)