My father was widowed after 40 some odd years of marriage.  We found that he was lonely but he didn’t want to go out and meet women because he felt like he wasn’t ready for that.  What he ended up doing was getting involved online in a senior chat room where he actually ended up meeting a nice lady.  She lives out of state, but they’ve been chatting for a while and even talk on the telephone now.  She is also widowed and they have a lot in common.  Perhaps someday they will meet, but for now they seem content to talk online.