The envy of womanhood

Dear Gabriel,

I’m a divorced woman (recently) in my mid-40s. My husband and I parted after a mutual decision. At first I was happy and really enjoyed having the house to myself. We never had any kids. But now I’m suddenly filled with terror. I’m in my 40s. I’m a teacher at a girls’ school. All my friends are married. What if I never meet another man? What if I’m alone forever? Where on earth will I start to meet people? Help.

Thando

Dear Thando

You do realise that you are the envy of a significant portion of womanhood! You are still young, you have few responsibilities, you have an interesting job and the whole world is your oyster. This is a time to get out there and have fun. The book stores are filled with magazines and self help guides so I’m not even going to start with a “to do” list. What I will say is that you should set some goals for yourself, make plans to grow and change and experiment, become an even more interesting person and before you know it, the rewards will come. Maybe one of them will be a nice man, maybe not, but you sure won’t be alone because you’ll be out there living your life. Go for it.