Psychology says the loneliest part of getting old isn’t the solitude — it’s the slow realization that most of the connections you maintained for decades were held together by proximity, routine, and obligation rather than genuine love

You know that feeling when you scroll through your phone contacts and realize half the numbers belong to people you haven’t spoken to in years? Last week, I did exactly that while looking for an old colleague’s number. What struck me wasn’t just the silence between us – it was remembering how we used to grab lunch together three times a week, share weekend barbecue invites, and text about everything from work drama to our kids’ soccer games. Then I retired at 62, and within six months, we’d become strangers That’s when it hit me: we weren’t really friends. We...