No close friendships…

[LynWynn]

I’m 56, and am married with adult children. I don’t have any close friends, only acquaintances I’ve met through current and previous work. Is this normal? I’ve had friendships but they rarely last. The last good friend I had was through work until she retired and within two years never heard from her again.

Hello.
It's normal to have acquaintances rather than close friends, especially if your main social interactions have come from work. Many people experience this. Have you considered doing activities during your free time? You might meet some people who share your interests and engage in activities together.

In my situation, I haven’t been socialising much because of my health. I'm feeling slightly better now and have started joining local clubs and classes to meet people around my age and older. I'm also doing a bit of volunteering and hope to form some close friendships.

I also hope to find friendships online with people who share similar hobbies and interests.

My close friends have become more distant friends now because they live abroad or are scattered around the UK.

‘Friends for a reason friends for a season’
I think this day and age its quite normal for people not to have close friends - I guess social media fills in some voids and life in general is just busy.
You sound as if this bothers you - have you made attempts to contact the retired woman from work?
Otherwise could you take up a class? Club?
Or maybe you aren’t bothered and that’s fine too!

No, it’s not. Mn is full of people who struggle socially, though. If you’d like friends, you can make them at any age, so don’t write yourself off. What kind of people do you like? What do you enjoy doing for fun?