When my partner of nine years left me, abruptly and without much explanation, I wondered if the pain would ever relent. Yes, I was told by most people around me, it will. It’ll just take time. My two adult daughters watched my grief with a mixture of shock and mainly silent compassion. It was as new to them as it was to me, a sudden reversal of roles and the unprecedented sight of their father’sself-esteem evaporating before them.
After eight months, when my manic exercising gradually subsided and the dark shadows around my eyes began to fade, my daughters suggested online dating. “There’s no stigma,” the younger one told me over dinner one night. “Here,” she said, taking my phone, “I’ll set you up.”
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