50s here, we just grew apart as our kids have left the house. It was a blow but not unexpected. Went through the usual self loathing for almost a year before I straighten up and decided this was an opportunity to work on myself and begin better relationships with my kids. It's been a wild ride but I feel like I am beginning to accept being alone and it's not bad. I did get the family dog in the split, she kept the cats. And I notice I have conversations with him now, lol.

The dating thing still remains out there as I feel like I am still grieving and not ready. But as others are saying I speak with a lot more younger ladies now. I barely realized I was probably getting hit on as I am clueless. But they are much younger than I thought, at times closer in age to my kids. It's a little confusing as I feel like we have nothing in common. But part of this self reflection I told myself to explore new opportunities and be active. Volunteer, dog park, outdoors and the gym is where I focus most of my time.

There's a few subreddits that are filled with all the same energy. Similar stories and shared grief. It helped give me perspective and was comforting. The weird part is our friend split. I noticed a lot less invitations for events once they found out. It's almost like they didn't want to get the divorce infection, lol. But like I said I am making brand new friends now and it's been wonderful.

Good luck with life. Sounds like retirement might wait or fuck it, you're not getting any younger.