Living alone was an excellent period for me. After 27 years of marriage and three years with a girlfriend, I decided no more women in my life, and lived alone for another four years. So I learnt how to cook, fill out my tax returns, do my accounts, generally to look after myself. When I did finally decide to find a partner, I was apparently much more capable of living with another person. Been with her for 12 years now and it works. Maybe I was triggered when I received news that an aunt had been found upside down on her stairs, where she had been for 36 hours with a broken hip.