I'm 38, never married, never even had a partner. I have been living in Europe by myself for close to 11 years now, my family is in South America. I didn't choose to not have a partner nor many friends. It just didn't really happen even though I spent a good stretch of time trying. I wanted a boyfriend since I was a teenager and wanted many friends, but as I grew older, friends came and went for many reasons, and the boyfriend just didn't happen. At around 32 I decided to question my search and realized that my fear of "ending up alone" AKA without a romantic partner was more a product of societal pressure than a genuine fear. Realizing that really made a huge difference so I stopped trying to meet anyone. I still would like to have many friends, but I've come to realize the world is not set up for that to be feasible for most of us. I have a few close friends but they all live in different continents or countries. I enjoy my time alone, have always vacationed alone, etc. Some days I do feel isolated and I worry about the reality of aging by myself in terms of the logistics of it (or course if i have the privilege to live to old age). It is daunting to think of being an older person with probably health issues and having no one around to support you. But as you have showed, we have no guarantees in life and even people who had the big families can and do end up on the same boat. I am really glad that you created this space. Being alone is such an important topic and I think we all need to be aware that yes, it can be hard, but it's also rewarding and can be done.