Yes. This creates such a hollow feeling for me. I would call a mosaic of friends and loved ones. I feel comforted that I have this without a partner. Preferable to a partnership that isn’t right. I also have people that fit in different ways, part of a puzzle that make a supporting whole. I am a key piece of this puzzle.

I have also lived alone for a year in Florida, partially through the pandemic. It is a place that uniquely (alligators/hurricanes/politics) demands self-preservation, survival. Or so I experienced.