Age is Irrelevant!! Are Swedes in Their Prime for Romance No Matter How Old They Get!?

After more than ten years of marriage, I've forgotten how romance even begins... and now that I'm over 40, I can't even imagine starting a new relationship.

Since I'm married, should I just forget about the very feeling of romance?
No, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?

After all, our lives might last until we are 100, and since men have shorter life expectancies than women, there is a high possibility that I will spend a significant amount of my life without a partner.
Or, something could happen next month and I could find myself single.
Seeing many elderly Swedes, I realized it is a mistake to treat romance as something in the past.



My father-in-law, who will turn 80 next year, lost his wife to illness 13 years ago and moved into an apartment complex for people over 55.

Many people there have retired from work, and several have lost their partners.
From afternoon tea parties to birthday celebrations and parties while watching the Nobel Prize ceremony, the event room in the apartment complex is filled with fun days.

As they got along well and went on group trips to Greece, my father-in-law became closer to a woman five years his senior.

Furthermore, they started going to my father-in-law's summer house together, and gradually began visiting each other's grandchildren's birthday parties as partners.

Although they live in separate rooms in the apartment complex, they have been lovey-dovey for about eight years now, with my father-in-law cooking dinner and inviting her over, or her bringing freshly baked bread.


Such senior romance, of course, also exists within elderly care homes.

Erik (a pseudonym) moved into a couple's room with his wife of 60 years.
However, his wife passed away suddenly in April, and he was very depressed.
After that, he became closer than ever to a man living on the same floor, and they started to feel like they were enjoying life again while opening bottles of wine on the weekends.

By the end of summer, we nurses started seeing Erik on a different floor more often.
When I asked the care worker why, they said he had a "girlfriend" and was going to see her.

Erik's smile increased just like before.

Seeing the two of them smiling at each other and hugging on the balcony made me feel warm inside too.

When I told a colleague that it was quite fast for him to find a new partner after his previous one passed away, she said, "It's wonderful that he has the desire to enjoy the rest of his life. It's truly great that he can fall in love again within his limited time."


It is said that 60% of Swedes get divorced.


My nursing colleagues of my generation usually have one or two divorce experiences.

Perhaps having never experienced a divorce is a slightly unfulfilling life. This is just my own personal speculation, though...

Even if they have children and get divorced, because of joint custody, children often live at their mother's and father's homes for one week at a time, so there is time every other week when they don't have the children and have time to themselves.

That is exactly when romance begins.
Many people seem to be looking for dates on matching apps.

And the day after a date, the workplace tea break becomes very lively. It might be a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy romance no matter how old you get.It is truly the Swedish quality of life.