Polnan, has anyone told you about "Way Up"? It's an online forum for widows and widowers, NOT a dating agency, but for support and friendship. I found it really helpful.
I have a son with severe learning difficulties, who now lives in his own flat, ready for the day when I'm no longer alive. In the mean time, I give him lots of support, and go to endless meetings to help others in a similar position. Some of them are very stressful. Now they are all postponed, and I'm able to indulge myself doing dressmaking, and generally getting round to all the jobs I never have time for. My road is usually one of the busiest C roads in Hampshire, not any more. The industrial estate down the road is closed. Only the occasional car and tractor going past. Bliss. I mist going out and about, but am enjoying other things. I used to live in a mining town 1,000 miles away from anywhere in outback Australia, a lovely relaxed lifestyle, just like it is here now!