For much of history, those choices have been limiting or grim. But that's changing. There's been a creation of elder women tribes. Instead of the traditional husband and wife, you see three and four widows traveling together, going together to restaurants and movies, becoming caretakers of each other, sharing houses and apartments. It's a whole new social phenomenon.
Sheer numbers bring widows together.
But these tribes form around the shared sense of loss that often only other widows understand. Numerous studies have found that two years after losing a spouse, widows show no more likelihood of being depressed than other women their age. Further, at least a third of widows say they discovered new strengths and talents. By contrast, elderly white widowers have the nation's highest suicide rates. One reason is that many widowed men are frail, and the spouse they've lost was also their caregiver.