I will in time likely be alone as well as I have little family and no siblings. Church family will be about it.
You do have your Church relationships - and they can last. This woman appears to be seeing the results of enjoying life while not seeking any meaning but self. Worshipping God, serving others when possible- don’t see that she ever tried.
Sometimes that is all you need.
“”Church family will be about it.””
They will be more dependable for sure.
“I will in time likely be alone as well as I have little family and no siblings. Church family will be about it.”
You are not by yourself. Due to geographical and life’s choices, most of our living relatives are in the midwest and SW. Flying when you are in your mid 80’s is not pleasant.
We use the phones often and other electronic gear to keep up with our family/ relatives and a few close friends.
We love, our local church family members, here. As much as we care and love them, they are not our living blood relatives.
Being In our Mid 80’s+, most of us stopped being plane passengers, years/decades ago.
In this past year I lost a first cousin and a BIL, who were like sibling/bros!
My wife spends a few hours every weekend catching up with her mid west relatives. A couple of them, may not make it much longer.
I love solitude. Quiet reflection on my life, watching my garden, reading, caring for my animals... I teach music to a dozen students. I enjoy nights at the pub. But the quiet and peace of solitude is hard to beat. if a person can’t enjoy life alone, they can’t enjoy it with other people.
Amen
church family
You have friends on FR.
I'm the only one left in my family. I was the baby. I just turned 78. I have my brother's widow, her three children, which includes twin boys they adopted as babies. Their daughter has been married for 20 years, has a wonderful husband and four children...two boys and twin girls. Both boys are in college. The girls are 16. I am visiting them at their camp in Cape Vincent, NY next week. It's my job to make the desserts.
I have my own two sons, ages 58 and 54. My youngest son is separated from his wife, but they remain close friends although they live states apart. They had no children thankfully.
My oldest son had a lot of live-in girlfriends over the years, but he told them all that he never wanted to get married, or have children. The first time he told me that, he was in high school. As his mother, I told him that he'd be going through a lot of women then, because that's what a woman wants. I let him know that it didn't matter how many times you told a girl you didn't want to get married and have a family, she would think she was the one who could get you to change your mind. None ever did. He's been alone for at least 12 years now, and is happy on his own. He's turned into his mother when it comes to enjoying his solitude. He also travels overseas at least twice a year...getting it in while he can still do it.
I also told both my sons when they were younger, that they didn't have to be married or have children to be happy, but if they did decide to get married and have children, that they needed to know children are a lifetime commitment, and that I was sure they didn't want any child they brought into the world, to be raised without a father like they were.