I was married at 21 and was married for 21 years. It's been 3 years since the divorce and I have yet to be able to form new friendships. I think I was still reeling from losing our mutual friends and of course his relatives. When you're married that long it just becomes your identity. I find myself being very closed and quiet in social situations and I blame that for not meeting my goal of making new friends. I so want to find a group of girlfriends that I can count on and have that Mutual support. I never thought so many people would abandon me, but I was married to a"golden boy" that a lot of people look up to.

How do I find a new tribe?

You can start by connecting with a divorce support group and if you’re religious connecting to a church group.

Hi Lila, I’m going through the same thing. I listened to a TED talk a while ago about making new friends as an adult and the key seems to be that you make friends with the people you see repetitively. So the best thing is to join a club (or two) that you go to weekly and go consistently for a long period of time. Getting into a friend group is not about instantly clicking with people (although occasionally this does happen) but slowly getting to know people over time. I also have said yes to every invitation that has come my way whether I felt like it or not and also did some of the inviting which I found hard because of fear of rejection, although more often than not people said yes. I’m not an outgoing person either so I’ve had to force myself and felt uncomfortable at times but it is definitely worth doing because over time you feel more comfortable about being around people you don’t know that well. It’s about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

I hope this helps!

I am in the same boat. I have been friends with my ex's mother & family for 30 years. After I lost my daughter, We both got together 7 years ago & married after 2 years living together. Now he left because he doesn't love me anymore. Says I deserve better. ON top of that I am now disabled and don't work. His family has been my friends and support group for a long time, and they seem to think nothing is going to change, but yet have not tried to reach out and help me through this. So here I am, I don't get out of the house and meet people, I have no work to distract me and obviously their friendship has run it's course.
I live in a rural town so there are not many options for support groups or clubs. It pretty much sucks.

OMG, I'm in the same situation! My life revolved around the marriage, HIS friends. Been separated/divorced 3 years now and lonely. I haven't worked since my accident 20 years ago, no family in state, and live in a very rural/farming area! I've looked through Meetup but there is nothing around unless I drive 45+ minutes and even those groups are nothing of interest to me! Also searched online for girlfriend social groups, which has given me a few *imaginary friends* as I call them, because we only email back and forth because they're out of state.
I don't get any invites because there's no one around to socialize with.