I have been a widow for two years. I am 62 years old and have two daughters aged 22 and 25 and a 20-year-old son. After a massive heart attack from which he never recovered, I was her father’s caregiver for the last two years of his life. I accepted this task, even though this authoritarian man didn’t make it easy for me. I haven’t told my children, but I won’t hide from you that after his death I dreamed of deliverance.
In the year after my husband died, I was dealing with the estate and my doctor’s demands to get back in shape. After these two duties were accomplished, I felt ready to live again and began to see my friends again. I felt like going on trips to distract myself from other things.
After another year, I was talking to one of my friends who told me that maybe it was time to think about finding a new partner, and I started thinking about how I was still relatively young, and yes, that I was right to think about a new life as a couple.
Thanks to this friend, I met a charming man who was a little older than me, but in excellent physical shape. Since then we have gone out several times and since we have a lot in common, we are thinking about living together. The problem is that I’ve talked to my children about it and my two daughters are completely against it.
They tell me that I can’t do this to our father, that no man can keep up with him, and that I should just go out with him every now and then. Since my son, for his part, thinks I should enjoy my life the way I want without having to worry about what his sisters think, I don’t really know how to dance anymore. Do I listen to my daughters or do I listen to my son?
Anonymous
Why not just listen to your little personal voice that invites you to enjoy this beautiful encounter? You are entering a new phase of your life where you alone are in charge. This man is not coming to replace anyone, he is just following someone who is no longer there and to whom you have paid the most beautiful tribute possible by taking care of him until the end.