I've been single, apart from the odd very short lived relationship, for 11 years now since my marriage of 19 years broke up. I thank god I have my two daughters, now 22 and 18, still living with me as in the last 2 years I've been through breast cancer treatment and now this endless menopause crap. It's been very hard with no supportive partner to lean on, but I've also met quite a few women whose partners are either emotionally useless or have actually walked out on them after the cancer diagnosis. So I'm acutely aware that just having a partner ain't the be all and end all. When things were going well (can't remember when that was right now, quite a while back) I honestly didn't miss having a partner at all - relationships can be so high maintenance, and emotionally intelligent men are pretty hard to come by. But at times like this when the chips are down I agree, I also sometimes feel really desperate for someone I can rely on and who understands. And I think people who are in long-term stable relationships tend to forget, or have no awareness in the first place, of how awful it is to be in this position on your own, so may offer help but actually are so engrossed in their own cosy family lives it doesn't translate into anything concrete.
