Hi furbabymom! We are here!! I'm in the rainy mid-atlantic where we haven't seen the sun in maybe a week. Probably more. It's tough to keep an uplifted spirit in the midst of the gray, so go outside now in that SUN and let it warm your body and spirit!!

I'm a cat fan, and my best fur buddy is my male cat (3 others are female). The males tend to be snugglers. Do you enjoy walking the dogs at local shelters, or playing with the cats? Other than holding a baby, that's the best (non fattening, addicting) therapy I can think of. Being outside comes second.

Keep your chin up and smile!!

OH GOSH! Babies YES! I became a grandma for the the first time on april 9th! The sweetest little girl ever! LOTS of dark curly hair,perfect little fingers,toes,ears and nose! 7lbs and 20 in long! The apple of my eye! How did I get to be a gramma at 47? IDK but im in love with her! The its my son and his wifes baby, and they txt me lots of pics and come up once a week if they can. Now the furbabies? I worked for a veterinary hospital for three years. I still go there to visit and play and walk with the patients and the borders! It does help sometimes. but often the dogs I know seem to pick up on my stress and act different. so ive learned when is best to go. It is a bit chilly here in upstate n.y. about 60 or so. normally my fave weather. bonfire type! I live in the woods pretty much. so we can do that often, and I have lots of wooded acrage to walk in the woods. but no fun alone. and know I wont be here much longer. going to have to sell when the divorce is final. just sad.

I know, loneliness is the worse. I'm thankful that my sons are still young enough to be with me (16 & 18) - but I know not for long! That's a transition I'm not looking forward to!

My husband, after the first few years, has not had any interests in common with me, and never let me get involved in his, so I've been living with that type of loneliness for decades. I'm the one who wants the divorce, so I don't think I'll have any extra loneliness when he finally moves out. I'm actually very excited for that. I do some things on my own, I jog, and when the weather's nice sometimes I take my bike out. I've been looking at some meetup groups, to see if I can get busy and distracted with those, but they all seem to be 30+ miles away. Have you tried meetups?

So sorry to hear that you'll be losing your place in the woods. It sounds like a sanctuary.

Congrats on the grandbaby!! I was with my two young great-nephews last week, and I so miss the baby thing!

Here's one piece of advice, as I love walking, hiking in the woods too, and I know it's always better with someone. Have you tried playing music when you walk? I've recently been listening to rock-a-billy music on my phone using Pandora (not usually my type music but so upbeat it's hard to resist). I think the more we can stay with some favorite routines, the easier the transition will be.

it is a sanctuary. 33.5 acres. I mow about 3.5 of it. I will hate to lose it for sure. But Ill be ok. there are LOTS of wooded areas in upsate ny. lots of state land forests to be on. Im not HUGE on taking long hikes, but a nice walk in the woods to see whats growing, and see what critters pop out. Gosh you could get lost here easily. no trails at all! but find a quiet place to sit and reflect.

Well i dont miss mine but yea i do get lonely. Normally i work weekends and am off so not use to be home so much when kids arent here:( i put up with crap way too long now its ending like a storm!!

I get lonely like that all the time! Ever since he left it feels like the world is spinning without me . . all the happy people in their happy houses, and then there's me. 4 walls, a TV, and shitty ass chores to do, but not much else to live for. Friends I don't want to impose on, as they are busy living their own happy, put-together lives. Work. Rinse, lather, repeat. Life these days reminds me of a poem by a poet called Philip Larkin. It is called "Aubade." I would encourage you to look it up and read it. It can be very cathartic to realize that someone else felt the same way and expressed it. Hopefully it will help you. Sometimes that sort of thing helps me.

msf248, I will certainly look it up and read it! Yes life is odd to me right now. The first time I went to the grocery store after he left I felt like I had neon sign over my head, drawing odd glances. of course I went to the store alone before he left! but all of all of a sudden I felt like I was doing something wrong.. Im doing some better with that now. but still have frequent moments of"how do I do this without him"? today will be hard, but the sun will set on this day, and ill be a day closer to finding me again. Im with ya here! and Im so glad, so blessed I found this group! It was here at just the right moment.

my feelings exactly! You do feel like people are watching you. "Why is she alone now?" I feel like the people who work at stores we used to go to are starting to wonder why he isn't with me. Lol. I am also so thankful for the people here. They are supportive but they also have told me tough truths when I needed to hear them!