MY FIRST EVER DATE IN MY 50s

After more than 35 years of marriage, Alison Noon, 60, found herself unexpectedly single and looking for love

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Walking into the restaurant, my heart was pounding in my chest. 'This is it,' I thought to myself.

'My first date.' I'd got dressed up for the occasion, donning a slinky new dress. And I'd carefully applied makeup and put on a pair of heels. Now, here I was at a restaurant in London ready to meet my date for the evening. But I was incredibly far out of my comfort zone, because this wasn't just my first date with the gentleman I was meeting, it was my first date, ever! While most women get their first ever date out of the way in their late teens or early 20s, here I was, in my mid-50s, feeling more nervous than ever.

I'd been with my husband for 37 years, having met in our late teens. We'd hung around with the same group of mates before becoming an item and so never actually went on a 'date'. When we parted ways in 2021, our three kids were grown up and living lives of their own and I suddenly felt completely lost.