A friend of ours died last year, liver failure among other problems. His wife, a dear friend of my wife, was relieved in a sense after caring for her ill husband while he declined. She's gone on a couple cruises with girlfriends in the six months since he died.
“Johnson jokes that women her mom’s age seem to be waiting for their husbands to die so they can finally start their life.”
Not a joke in my mother’s case. Dad died when Mom was 84. Before his funeral she went and bought flooring SHE wanted. (He had made EVERY decision for 60 years.) The day after the funeral we bought her a car and she learned to drive, putt-putting around in her little 10-mile-radius world. (He forbade her to drive.). She shopped for groceries. (He had done ALL the shopping.). She got a checkbook. She traveled, and still does.
He would wake her up in the middle of the night and viciously harrangue he when HE was depressed — for hours at a time — accusing her of outlandish and preposterous things. (Like the article said, he had nobody else to talk to - no friends.)
A couple years ago she told us she never realized she could be happy, but she was. She’s 95 now, and sounds and acts like a teenager.
So the men want to save money to prepare in the event of an emergency, or to pass along an inheritance to their kids. Women piss it away of themselves after the man dies.
Sound about right?