On Aging Alone (2021)
I&#x27;ll add my own data point into the mix. I&#x27;m 49, have been married for 22 years, with kids who are either grown up, or well on their way. Throughout my life though, I have been an absolute loner in spirit. I grew up quite isolated, in the UK countryside, and learned to amuse myself early on. My first love was computers, which luckily has served me fairly well, career-wise. I haven&#x27;t had many girlfriends, and felt very aware of this lack. When I met my wife, I married her more rapidly than I should have, if I&#x27;m honest. I had no confidence in myself regarding my ability to form intimate attachments to women, and thought something like &quot;well if I&#x27;m married, then that&#x27;s that problem sorted!&quot;. Not so much.<p>Still, we&#x27;ve persevered, and made it work for 22 years. But I will soon be 50, and have chosen to view this round number as significant. I would like to start living life as I would like it, both career and relationship wise, and am currently trying to plan out what shape that might take. The stories and information in the comments here, are truly fascinating to me, the breadth of ideas being mentioned are a real breath of fresh air, and a great example of what makes Hacker News great (in my view), so thank you everyone.