Reaching Out~!

Last updated on April 17, 2017

“Where do you live and what do you like about your city?” was one of the questions I have been asked here on my blog, and my honest reply surprised me a little bit. “I live in Columbus, Ohio and I don’t like it here at all.”

Why don’t I like it here? It’s a beautiful place to live -even if you are the only liberal nutcase in about 50 miles. We have a lovely home, friendly neighbors, good jobs, and a decent income. What is there not to like?

I sat down and did some soul searching, had a few honest hours minutes with myself and that’s when I decided to change the situation.

After all these years, I will give this city a chance; I will go out and explore different neighborhoods and surrounding areas, and I will take pictures -even if they will be just a blurry mess because I forgot to wear my glasses (again). I treated the city like a one-night-stand, it’s time for a serious commitment now.

So far I have business related friendships, and I meet with neighbors -many of them happen to be much older. I want to meet people here; I can not possibly be the only nutcase living here. 🙂

I miss female companion here in this town. I miss my best friend; she passed on a couple of years ago, and I miss some of my good friends, who live too far away now. Alright, that was settled. I will go out and meet new people.

“Where do I go to meet women my age?” I wondered.

I did some research and found a website called http://www.meetup.com. I was in awe. There are numerous meetup groups out there for people all ages. Different groups for various interests, from cooking to hiking, from writing to photography – it looked promising. They are everywhere, Australia, USA, Canada. Why haven’t I heard of it before?

I found a woman’s club for ladies 60+; I found book clubs and dance clubs for younger women. Activity and sports groups, meetings for people with health problems and even a group for dog lovers. But…nothing for 50+ women. Bummer~!

Guess what I did? I got me a glass of wine (I confess it was a big one) and started my own meetup group. I wrote a profile, even posted a profile picture of me (what is a first). I named the group:

Fabulous Women 50+ Making New Friends

Then I wrote the introduction:

There comes a new found freedom with 50 and it is fabulous. More than ever do we know what we want, and who we are. We are not over the hill – we are standing on top of it and there is no going down (yet.) This group is here for the sole purpose of bringing women over 50 together, whether single or married, who want to make great friendships and enjoy fun events together . My goal is a fun, relaxed, and low-key way to do activities with other women in the similar age and time in life. You may still be working or retired. You may have children who are about to leave the nest or no kids but the four-legged types.

I want this to be a relaxed, low key and fun group to make friends and do activities together. It may be anything from wine tasting to book reading, from cookie parties to music. I would love to start a girl’s night out with women close to my age.

I am open to suggestions and would love to hear your ideas.

Let’s make new friends Ladies –what do you think?

Looking forward meeting you,
Bridget

(PS. I am new to meetup and never joined or started a group, please be patient with me –I promise the same)

I waited impatiently. Nothing happened for two days…I was the only one who wanted to go out and have fun. I was crushed.

And then there came Football Sunday and some ladies signed up. First 10, then 20 and it went from there. Now we are a group of 78 ladies (so far), and I am tickled pink. I met with a few of them already, planned more activities, and we had a ball. Our first Girl’s night out will be in 2 weeks and I am looking forward to it.

This is going to be fun~!