From the desk of Jill Kovalich, creator and founder of Solo Agers Connect.
As a Solo Ager myself, I have many questions about my present and future. As I turned sixty, I started a journey to find answers to ordinary questions like:
- “Who will manage my money and living arrangements when I’m old?”
- “How can I pick a place to live and build a community to support me as I age?”
- “If I get another pet, what will happen to it if I die first?”
- “With the need for only a simple Will, who do I designate as beneficiaries?”
- “How can I make friends at this later point in my life?”
Why I Started Solo Agers Connect
With a professional background in marketing communications, I am a fairly good researcher, well- organized and connected to lots of service providers. But I had to go all over the internet to find podcasts and information with little success. I had to search hard for workshops through local libraries. Not quite feeling old enough to engage with a Senior Center and being active and healthy, I kept hitting roadblocks.
Eventually, I did find one YouTube site online for women over sixty. That is where I randomly found information that eventually took me on another breadcrumb trip through social media hunting for my “tribe” of Solo Agers like me.
When I read through comment feeds, I was struck by the overwhelming despair of people aging alone who saw a bleak path ahead. Fear of change and fear of the unknown future was woven into every comment. I am an optimist, so while I have very real concerns about my own future, I do believe it is possible to craft a life of purpose and hope and steer clear of bleakness and despair.
While I was hunting and researching, I attended the 70th birthday party of a family member. His sister, who knows me well, confessed a concern for her daughter in her mid-thirties. An educated young woman with a promising career, she is an only child. She has no plans to marry and in fact plans to remain solo. Here mother said, “I worry about what Mary will do when Ken and I are gone.”
This encounter sent me on a side path of research to understand the ramifications of the global birthrate decline and the societal implications for change that will affect my life as I age, and Mary’s life, too. The reality is that things will change and quickly. But the bigger impact, I believe, is the increase of people living alone and aging alone – an increase over time of Solo Agers and Elder Orphans. Not only are we living longer, but there will also be a large cohort of Solo Agers without siblings to help them answer those many questions surrounding the big one: Who will help me as I get old?
So, this journey revealed to me the many needs of Solo Agers and Elder Orphans and led me to create a solution. I created SoloAgersConnect to provide one place to access local service providers, find helpful information, and connect with like-minded individuals for the purpose of building community connections. The ultimate goal is to infuse hope into the desire that we all live our best lives throughout our lives to the end.
Welcome to SoloAgersConnect.com. I hope you find information, community, and services that enrich your life. Visit often to see all the new cool stuff I plan to add. Drop a suggestion in our online Suggestion Box.
Live your best life!
Jill
Watch Jill Kovalich on the Midlife Matters Show