First -- what an awesome sub this is! I am so glad I found you :)

I am 41 years old, a late bloomer due to trauma/ptsd, and after many years of healing my nervous system and excavating emotional wounds, I'm more recently feeling a lot of mental clarity after rejoining the gym, and also after experiencing some very sad/emotionally challenging events with my mother's health that have lit a fire under my ass to not take any moment for granted. It will be heartbreaking in the future as she is showing signs of dementia, but for now she's doing okay and I'm grateful for that.

I have never been married, and feel less of a desire for children now that I've reached my 40s - so I find myself at this strange threshold of wanting to embrace being child-free, while still longing for a beautiful partnership, but also feeling such a deep sense of my own self-worth after many years of feeling not good enough. I find myself "waking up from the fantasy," in a way -- almost like coming out of my maiden years, but still feeling this longing for romance and love.

Most of you amazing women here have these stories of stepping away from unfulfilling, imbalanced marriages and feeling happier and more yourself after -- but I am the opposite in that I have been single for many, many years, and would really love a healthy partnership (and tbh, really good sex too, after many years of being on my own).

I suppose I'm looking for stories of anyone who found healthy/fulfilling/playful love in their 40s. I feel like up until this point I have spent so much time digging into my past and healing, that now I have this foundation I'm cultivating and I'd love to fill my psyche with stories of hope and possibility of a beautiful life (even as I face the reality of grief and loss).