This July, I celebrated 24 years of writing newspaper columns on the topic of dating and finding love after 50. The first column appeared July 7, 1994, in the Dana Point News (California) weekly newspaper.

Last fall, CBS News featured an article on their website titled, “Former surgeon general sounds the alarm on the loneliness epidemic.”

Sally, a widow of four years, emailed:

When I was pondering retirement from the deli I had founded and worked in for 25 years, the main thing I looked forward to was having “free time.” With it, I could do nothing — if I wanted — which sounded great after all those years of serving sandwiches.

In October, this paper featured an article about Chuck, 78, a Lancaster widower, who had lost his wife of 55 years.

This past December, a Harrisburg woman, whose nickname is Neet, was in the reception room of her doctor’s office. She started leafing through the December issue of 50plus LIFE.