Seniors

Senior dating is not always planned in advance. You may find yourself suddenly single due to death or divorce.

Or, having been “off the market” for quite a while, you may decide you don’t want to remain dateless unless death.

In senior dating it helps to have a goal. Early on you should try to decide what you want from dating.

Are you looking for friendship?

A long-term relationship? Marriage?

Senior dating requires finding people to date. There are many sources of potential dates. First, you can consider the people you already know. Are there any prospects?

You can let friends and acquaintances know you are looking. The world is full of people who are eager to “fix someone up.”

You can meet senior dating prospects by being active and getting out. There are many things you can do. You can take a class. You can do volunteer work.

You can join a coed sports league for bowling, tennis, softball or whatever. Not physical now (or ever)? Most major bookstores have book clubs. So do libraries. You can join a computer club.

If you live in a retirement community, there will be group events. They have senior dating prospects. If you don’t live in such a community, do you know someone who does, and will invite you to events as a guest?

You can read the personals ads in your local newspaper for senior dating people. When reading the ads, try to compare your likes and desires with those in the ads. Do both of you want to commit? Do you both like sports? Do both enjoy the great outdoors?

You can place a personal ad. If you do so, try to word it so you filter out the people who are not going to be good senior dating prospects for you. Honesty helps.

You can visit online websites. The well known sites, such as Match.com and eHarmony.com, have many senior members.

There also are websites specifically for senior dating, such as AllSeniorDating.com, DatingForSeniors.com, MeetMaturePeople.com and SeniorFriendFinder.com.

Online you can read the profiles of other members and create your own. By searching online you can make senior dating contacts over a greater area. Due to distance, you may end up with a relationship that exists only online.

If you can’t or won’t go online, you can use companies that mainly work offline, such as Great Expectations or Mature Singles Only.

Once you’ve found someone, what are you going to do? Senior dating starts with a first date. The goal of your first date is to have fun and decide whether you want a second date with that person. I think the best first dates are those that provide some chances for talk, so each of you can find out what the other likes and is like.

Senior dating where you can share a common interest, such as participating in a sport you both enjoy or watching a local sports team, is an easy one. If necessary, go on a group date with some of your friends.