Think about how you want your ideal retirement to be. Will you be reflecting on the life you’ve lived? The adventures you’ve been on? The skills you’ve mastered? Or maybe you’ll be focusing more on romance than anything else…
Finding romance in old age can hold benefits that aren’t available at a younger age. You’ll have more time to spend with your partner, and you’ll have the benefit of experience and hindsight. Whether this person will be your first love or your 20th, you’ll still have decades of experience to draw back on.
Whether you want to find a life partner or just someone to date, assisted and independent living facilities near you are great places to start.
Senior Living Community Romance
As most of us know, dating is a game of odds. The more people you surround yourself with the greater chances that you’ll find someone.
However, most seniors don’t get the chance to mingle with other people in their age groups. If you aren’t living in a big city and have the energy to go out and drive every day, then it’s likely that you’re staying at home most of the time, seeing the same people.
A senior living community will put you around several new people. Experience new settings, new faces, and new members always joining the community. Like you, these people are looking to spend their golden years in the best way possible. Therefore you’ve already got something in common with them. It’s easy to go from there and make a connection.
Another aspect of senior living that isn’t talked about much is the adrenaline rush it can give you. Yes, that’s right – it can actually be exciting to become a part of one of these communities because you’ll be able to try and learn new things. If your life was dull before, then living an exciting and passionate life will make it easier for you to attract that special someone.
For Seniors: How to Start Dating
If you join a senior living community, then you have the opportunity to begin exploring your new neighborhood as well as meet some of the new residents. However, there’s no rule stating that you can only mingle with residents…
If you’re looking for the maximum amount of possibilities, there are social media apps as well as online dating. With these apps and websites, you can broaden your social circle. If that isn’t your thing, you could try exploring outside of your community every so often.
For Caregivers: How to Cope
So far, this advice has been for seniors, but what about caregivers? It can be very uncomfortable for some caregivers (especially children) to see their loved one becoming close to somebody else. However, it’s important to realize that all of us, regardless of our age, deserve love and crave companionship.
It might worry you if you’ve just let your loved one move into assisted living and then later seeing them begin a new romantic relationship in their community. Keep in mind that this is perfectly healthy and natural, and everyone should be happy for them.
Here is some advice on how to cope with your elderly loved one’s new relationship.
Recognize the Benefits of Romance
The first thing to do is to recognize the benefits of their growing romance. Here are some of the benefits of elderly romance:
- Your loved one now has someone they can lean on to give them a better sense of security.
- They have someone in whom they can confide and share their thoughts.
- Their new love will be someone whom they can smile and laugh with.
- We all crave the presence of someone who can make us feel important and keep us company, and this is especially true for elderly folks.
When your loved one is experiencing a budding elderly romance, try not to feel concerned. Instead, be happy for them and remember to appreciate the person who will now be looking out for your loved one.
Elderly Romance Will Benefit You Too
There will always be an initial “shock” when a new person is in your loved one’s life. However, you should now look on the bright side, as this means that:
- Your loved one will now have someone special in the assisted living home with them – you can’t be with them there every day.
- Are you the same age as them? Likely you aren’t, which means that your loved one’s new companion will be able to connect with them in ways that you can’t.
- There are many things that older people tend to have in common that make easy conversation pieces, such as the loss of a spouse, watching their children grow up, exchanging stories from their decades of life experience, relating to each other’s aches and pains, etc. Also, by sharing stories about you with their new partner, this might actually make your loved one feel even closer to you.
Health Benefits of an Elderly Relationship
Regardless of age, a relationship can confer different health benefits – as the saying goes, a relationship can add an extra spring to your step.
Also, having a partner to spend time with will increase the probability that they will go outside more often since it’s more fun to go on walks with someone else. That will also mean that they’ll get more exercise.
In addition to more physical exercise, there’s also the mental aspects as well. Your loved one will be spending more time talking and playing games with their new partner, which will help keep their mind sharp.
Having a partner can mean that they’ll have one less thing to worry about or feel sad about. And of course, it also means that there will be one other person out there to look after them and care for them.