P2YL | 37. Second chance at love: my story
Katrina Robinson • 4 May 2025
My midlife route from devastated divorcée to happily remarried
Not so long ago, a lovely journalist called Kate Chapman wrote a 'Real life' magazine article called 'Second chance at love' about women like me, alone in midlife after an unwanted divorce, and how I and others had gone on to find new love, commitment, and happy marriage.
I shared not only my own story but my determination to write in order to comfort, encourage, and inspire other women who find themselves nervously having to start all over again in the romantic stakes in midlife.
I call it
Part 2 Of Your (Love?) Life.
What I learnt en route from devastated divorcée to happily remarried
- I thought I was in a strong marriage but my husband had left me for someone else. I had thought it could never happen to me.
- I was worried that all chance of romantic happiness had gone but somehow I stepped out with a little bit of faith and a little bit of determination.
- I knew I’d up my chances if I pushed myself to be a bit more sociable though at heart I tend to be both shy and lazy.
- Learning to feel comfortable around men again was just practice. Meetup Groups with subjects that were popular with menfolk proved invaluable for getting used to meeting them again as a newly single woman and learning to feel friendly and calm while doing so.
- For more ideas on the topic of meeting potential friends and partners, read my feature P2YL | 42. Where do I meet eligible men?
- Patience and persistence pay off. Instinctively I knew it might take time, a long time. It took nearly 10 years to meet my husband Tim, to whom I’m now been married nearly as long.
- But through it all, though I sometimes felt I was back at Square One, I had faith I was heading in the right direction.
Now I want to encouage you if you're in Part 2 Of Your (Love?) Life and feeling unsure about the whole thing
Words by Kate Chapman.
Photography: Jenny Photography
Appeared first in Woman's Weekly, 18 June 2024, issue no. 25.
Reproduced here with kind permission
?. The comfort zone | When 'the worst' has happened how can you find simple daily measures to survive those first few weeks?
A handy guide to why you need to date differently second time round PLUS The books and films that help you make it work for you.
Part 2 Of Your (Love?) Life is dedicated to * Reclaiming love and feminine confidence * Often after divorce or heartbreak * Or simply appreciating a feminine boost *
I show you ways to comfort yourself when going through divorce or loss, and how the clothes you wear can lift your mood. Katrina Robinson. Part 2 Of Your (Love?) Life.
Next in the series: Five ways my Part 2 wedding was different from Part 1
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Learning to shake off the flawed and flaky
1) Live together or not? 🤔
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