Interesting thread and interesting stories.
Many of you know I lost my wife of 28 years (2nd one) in late 2022. She had COPD for her last 7 years and finally died in a skilled care facility just after turning 77. I took care of her daily as she was mostly bedridden after years of breathing meds and steroids. Her bones were turned into mush, she could hardly walk, and lost 4" in height in the last two years. Basically, she was bedridden for the last year or so and I was the full time caretaker. I loved her dearly and I was a mess when she passed, even though it was obviously soon to happen.
I was such a mess for a couple of months that I had a hard time functioning on a daily basis, plus I lost 30 pounds. She was clearly my soulmate and I was lost. Our local pastor and his staff (and some of my friends) were helpful in getting me back on some sort of track.
We were living in a beautiful home in a 55+ community and I just could not stand to be there anymore. So, I bit the bullet and sold the house. I ended up living with my daughter and her husband for three months before buying a smaller house in the next town. Our dog and I were to move in on September 12th and the day before we closed, our 10 year old dog was diagnosed with bladder cancer and I had to have him put down. I was bummed again.
Well, that's the story, and it's been a tough year for me. But, I somehow managed to stay busy, get moved, get rid of 75% of our "stuff" and start a new life, of sorts.
Oh, I also got another dog, a rescue, a mixed 1 1/2 year old Terrier/Schnauzer and he is a handful (LOL).
With respect to my "status", I had not thought much about finding another female mate/friend yet, and I may not. I know a few widows in my new neighborhood the are casual friends and appear to be FI, but I look at them as just friends. I met them at a recent neighborhood holiday party.
In my old neighborhood, I had been invited to a couple of holiday parties in the last two weeks and I have attended. Those parties were "light" men since the widows outnumber the men in that community by a big margin. In all, I probably know 20+ widows/divorced women in my age group that could be viewed as available for a relationship with a man. But at this point, I have no desire to initiate any kind of interest in being other than a friend or neighbor.
I have thought about initiating a search for another female to share the rest of my life with, but can't seem to get that process started. For one thing, I really don't want to end up as someone's caretaker again for obvious reasons. Plus, I am FI, fit, healthy, have all my original hair and teeth, and still remember what I had for breakfast, and finding an available female with the same characteristics, appears to be a tough assignment.
So, the way it looks right now, I will probably remain solo with a dog as my best friend.