midlifers
by rantywoman
Last week I went out with a small group of people, all my age or older, from an exercise class I’ve been taking for the last five years. We’d never really had intimate conversations with each other, but it was eye-opening.
One woman, single, said all her friends had moved away in the past decade or so and she has only one or two left. A man, also single, said he had no straight male friends left. Another single woman has applied to a job across the country and is hoping to make a big change after decades of living here.
It just proves how cathartic it can be to socialize. I’ve realized this past year that not only am I far from the only person struggling, many of my acquaintances are struggling more than I knew.
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I think this post should inspire us to reach out and connect with those around us. I recently have come into contact with two women, no children, about my age. It seems like they would like to be friends- or at least they are very friendly to me. I was feeling shy about asking them to do something together– need to get over that!
I would definitely ask them to something specific– maybe say “I’m going to this, let me know if you are interested.” Try once or twice, then figure the ball is in their court. At least, that is how I usually handle it.