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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I am 86 and on my own. How do I get to know my nice neighbour better?

Painting: In the Garden (Rustic Courtship) by Winslow Homer (1874).
‘That awkward stiffness we sometimes feel when we try to progress a relationship one notch closer – I think that’s both people feeling they don’t quite know the rules of the new, closer interaction,’ Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes. Painting: In the Garden (Rustic Courtship) by Winslow Homer (1874). Illustration: Alamy

I am 86 and have been on my own for many years. However, despite being financially secure, it is a lonely life and I realise I’ve fallen into a materially comfortable rut. Come 6pm I eat a meal, usually microwaved, have a shower, put my PJs on, lock the doors, put the TV on and settle down to another boring evening. My children live far away and have their own lives, although I do encourage them to visit me as much as they can and my grandchildren do, for the occasional weekend. Sometimes, though, I can go days without talking to anyone.

I used to belong to several singles groups but Covid caused them to close and not reopen again. I am in reasonably good health, although walking any distance is a problem now. My question is: there’s a nice lady, a little younger than myself, who lives next door and we have chats over the fence. I would love to know her better and think she feels the same, but I feel if I asked her out for a coffee away from our homes but got a rebuff, it could spoil our current friendship. Any advice?

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