He advises seeking out gatherings or organisations with similar interests. Last year, Rebecca Northcutt, 71, discovered a neighbourhood potluck on Facebook.
She struggled to establish friends after relocating to Waterville, Maine, from a suburb of Virginia outside of Washington, to be nearer to her kid.
Her daughter put in a lot of overtime on her new farm while her husband travelled for business. Northcutt started to feel quite alone since she didn’t know how she fit into this new existence.
“It was just hard because it’s a small town and everybody here, especially my age, has lived here for decades and they have all the friends they need,” she said. “I asked myself why I was here. I’m purposeless.”
