There’s been a spring-summer air of romance in recent weeks, as I’ve noticed an increased number of couples walking hand-in-hand outdoors, laughing together, leaning into each other and openly beaming with confidence. That’s not so unusual when the weather matches peoples’ moods. Yet what’s been evident about many of these beaming couples is the clear fact that so many of them are seniors.
We should not be surprised: The Statistics Canada higher older-age population estimates revealed on July 1, 2023, nearly 3.2 million seniors as follows: • 75-79 years: 1,459,513 • 80-84 years: 918,411 • 85-89 years: 540,554 • 90-94 years: 266,869 Of course, not everyone in the estimated age groups is eager to marry again after past loss. Indeed, as one person said, “I had the best possible partner in my one and only marriage.
I don’t need anyone else.” Yet it’s hard not to recognize some senior couples’ evident delight in having found true connection in later years, often after what was previously heartbreaking times of loss. Consider two separate and heartbreaking stories: one, about a woman who lost two different husbands over her married years, due to the men’s separate and serious illnesses.
The other describes a husband’s late wife who’d endured periods of repetitive and debilitating bouts of severe illness which she eventually couldn’t survive. These sad losses of partners who were once essential in their lives, reflect the countless people who live.
