Finding Companionship

Discussion in 'Family & Relationships' started by Ann Leonard, Sep 8, 2024.

  1. Ann Leonard

    Ann Leonard Very Well-Known Member
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    Looking for a bit of advise. I've been divorced for 20+ years, and just recently lost my best friend (who happens to live in another country). Being an introvert, living in a small town, it's not easy for me to make friends. I would love to find someone that I could spend time with - conversation, an occasional meal out or movie, sight seeing, but really don't know where to look. I tried dating sites years ago, but you'd be surprised how many creeps are on those sites. Aside from the fact that I'm really not looking for a serious or committed relationship.
     
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  2. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    I would look into hobby groups in something you enjoy--quilting, radio, gardening, etc. My other recommendation would be a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. You could also look into civic or political organizations if you lean in that direction. Any of those will bring you in contact with people who share an interest.

    Good luck in your search.
     
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  3. Ann Leonard

    Ann Leonard Very Well-Known Member
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    Thank you for your suggestions. I do belong to a local church where I am very active. I have a few people there that I talk to, while there, but none seem to have an interest in pursuing a friendship apart from church. I just keep praying that God will put someone on my path.
     
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  4. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Does your church have a women's group you can join? Do any of the other areas I mentioned interest you at all, even to explore?
     
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  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Try meetup.com

    I've done stuff with folks though there. Most of the groups are very casual...there's no commitment. And it was understood that it's not a dating endeavor.

    The groups I was doing stuff with slowly fell apart, and they were in a small city over 20 miles away (and there's not much in my rural area), so I've not done anything with them for a while.

    Lots of different interests there.
     
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  6. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    There were a couple of groups I looked into years ago. One was Parents without Partners and one was the Fondy Singles Club. The second was not quite a dating club and yet it was. We met together every month and planned an activity for every week in the following month. Everything from eating out to miniature golf. Everyone had to bring their thinking caps. If there isn't a group like that by you, maybe ask your church friends if there would be any interest in starting one. Ours rented a room in a church for meetings. Maybe that would keep out undesireables? It doesn't have to be singles group but maybe a dining group, or a group that meets for walking various trails, or goes on but tours. Badmitton? Bowling?
     
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  7. Joy Martin

    Joy Martin Veteran Member
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    Oh I went to a PWP dance once and that was plenty, one time.

    I made a lot of fair friends from my many jobs and also did
    Personal Ads to make ,male hook ups, that was pre online dating, which I hear is a horror......

    Had some good gf's that lasted many yrs and now I enjoy MY ALONE time....I do a lot of thinking, too much sometimes,


    Oh Is Shirly Martin around, I have not seen her much lately.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Yvonne sent Shirley a note a few weeks ago. Shirley's fine, she's just taking a break from internet life.

    That's interesting you did the personal ads thing and it worked OK for you. I hear the same thing about the internet stuff, but I've never messed with it myself.
     
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  9. Joy Martin

    Joy Martin Veteran Member
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    Yep I met a couple of good men over the yrs and had some good times from the Ads, and I went to bars with dance areas and met some good gys dancing too...Ended ip living with a dear man I met dancing......

    I believe our generation had better quality communicative people, today the Tech Sheeet, good grief.
     
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  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I was reading an article that current college grads are getting fired just months after they are hired. Per the article: "Business leaders listed concerns in areas such as communications skills and professionalism that made them wary of hiring Gen Z." Generally, they are unmotivated and lack initiative. It's sad that they have been let down by everyone around them who has a duty to their being escorted into adult life...especially their parents.

    I think part (but not all) of it is that they don't do the stuff that we had to do to make spending money: deliver papers, cut grass, babysit, etc. And as you said, the tech stuff sucks all the social skills right out of you.
     
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