It could be because I’m tired but for some reason and only recently, I have had this overwhelming need to let go of all my friends and start afresh. I can’t really explain fully, perhaps it’s the disappointment I suffered when I became single again. One really close friend truly sold me out and that is unforgivable in my book. I realise it happens during divorce but I still cannot comprehend that this woman whom I discussed every aspect of my life with, shared tears and laughter with practically on a daily basis betrayed me. She was shallow and I didn’t see it. I lost faith in human nature for a while but have recovered since. She and her spouse are now the best of friends with my ex and his partner which is peculiar because neither of them liked him when we were together. Perhaps I just don’t want to be that open again although I’m a bit of a wearer of my heart on my sleeve type. I can’t be bothered with other folks dramas anymore. For a giving, generous and warm person, I’ve suddenly become intolerant. For instance, one friend whom I’ve known for 20 years and who has never been what one could call reliable, has suddenly gone way down in the pecking order. Her dippy nature was what I liked about her most, now that we are older, it only annoys me so I hardly call her. In my eyes, she just hasn’t grown up. My other friend drifts in and out of relationships - all bad. I used to be continually supportive but lately, “I told you so” seems to be my favourite phrase. What does that make me? A miserable middle-aged shrew? I’m full of life and always smiling but what gives me the right to even think about being critical when my own life hasn’t exactly been perfect. Is what I’m feeling an age thing?

Date Rape. It haunts me everyday of my life. I’m hoping that in my dotage, my mind remains clear but that is one experience I would happily have wash away never to return.

Now that is funny! I have to say, being a busy PA, the last thing one needs at times are endless streams of ‘so called funnies’ from colleagues and / or acquaintances but mam, that made me laugh.

I’m now divorced but after my ex and I had been separated for 20 months, I had a pocket book relationship with a man 18 years my junior. I was 48 at the time. I didn’t go out looking for anyone, it just happened. He made me feel alive I guess. Of course I knew it wouldn’t last and had no intentions of even trying to sustain our wild few months but all came to a very abrupt and acrid end when my ex found out. You see, even though he himself was seeing and has since married a woman half his age, my furtive venture was not to be tolerated and he made my life a living hell. What’s good for the Goose is obviously not for the Gander. Jealousy is a terrible thing….he even had the audacity to ask me what a young man of his age saw in a woman of mine!!! I look at my ex with his new found family (4 babies under 3 at the age of 64) and wonder if John Smith had met a woman his own age and Pocahontas had married a man 10 or so years her junior, would there be any need for all of this explaining and justification for a woman if she happens to land a younger beau? I did get my own back in a sentence …. but ssh … that oneliner is for my novel. I too am happily divorced at the age of 53.

Suzanne I too am a highly organized person, in fact, I would go as far as to say that sometimes I meet myself coming back! While married, I moved more times than one could shake a stick at which gave me the opportunity to declutter one way or another. Domestically, I’m a fuss pot and spend ages on detail. Past friends have questioned where I get my energy from and admittedly, considering how little they seem to get through, I wonder myself at times. We all function differently though so I’ve come to appreciate over the years that the only way I can cope with life is to be ultra organized whereas, my more laid back acquaintances enjoy theirs just the same - if not more so. All said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve spent my entire life looking after others and now that I’m divorced, I NEED to create a career path for myself but what to do? How can I get into event organisation at the ripe young age of 53? Perhaps it’s just the narrowmindedness of citizens in the UK, but unless I have a degree to prove my abilities, no-body wants to know. I am employed at the moment with a multi-national company as a PA and although I do get the chance to organize team events, the biggies are left to the Facilities Management department. I’m desperate to earn a better living and purely looking at my best qualities. I keep reading about celebs who employ people for just about everything and I know that I could do an excellent job given half a chance. From one who knows…any tips either great or small?

“Even though we divorce, one day we’ll get back together again - you’ll see!”. He’s now married to a girl 26 years his junior! He believed his own lies.

I took my own needs, hopes, wants, dreams and ambitions for granted everyday until I couldn’t ignore them any longer. I’ve become a statistic. I didn’t plan it that way, it just crept up and demanded I join. Life is easier now, I have choices albeit limited. I’m sometimes frustrated by my limited life, a life that can be hard and lonely, only now I’ve learned not to take myself for granted because life is limited.