irc333 Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Wow, this is an interesting form of terminology for single elderly people. Namely men. The "Nurse with a purse". It seems self explanatory, but basically it's a widower male seeking a widowed female to basically....take care of him...healthwise. Apparently, this off putting to the woman, because after having spent 40 or 50 years having been caretaker to their own sick spouse, this is something they'd never touch again. So even the elderly have their dating issues. Anyone ever heard of such situations? How common is this? Link to post Share on other sites
xxoo Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 This is nothing new. My grandfather died in the 1980s, in his 70s. My grandmother lived for 20+ more years, and had offers from many widowers in that time. I'll never forget how it amused me when she would say, "What do I want with another husband?!" She was very happy living her life, meeting with friends, and not having to care for or clean up after a man. 5 Link to post Share on other sites
BlueIris Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Wow, this is an interesting form of terminology for single elderly people. Namely men. The "Nurse with a purse". It seems self explanatory, but basically it's a widower male seeking a widowed female to basically....take care of him...healthwise. Apparently, this off putting to the woman, because after having spent 40 or 50 years having been caretaker to their own sick spouse, this is something they'd never touch again. So even the elderly have their dating issues. Anyone ever heard of such situations? How common is this? Oh yes! VERY common! I’m 54 and it’s certainly an issue in my age range. At this point, not a huge percentage of men I date need physical caretaking but a heck of a lot need psychological and emotional caretaking already. Lots of mental health issues and looking for a woman to provide the caretaking. The purse part is also VERY common. There are a lot of single men over 50 driving leased Mercedes or Porsches with payments about the size of their rent or mortgages to try to look affluent and attract the affluent, or living in houses that are under water. Plenty can’t afford the lives they used to live, or thought they’d have by now, are looking for a second paycheck, and preferably a better one then they have, to afford the semi-retirement or retirement that they want or expect. Some lost a lot in 2008/9. I know women looking for “purses,” wallets I guess, and men doing the same. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
MissBee Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) This is nothing new. My grandfather died in the 1980s, in his 70s. My grandmother lived for 20+ more years, and had offers from many widowers in that time. I'll never forget how it amused me when she would say, "What do I want with another husband?!" She was very happy living her life, meeting with friends, and not having to care for or clean up after a man. It seems many men will often remarry if their wives die or they divorce while more women seem to not want to be bothered as the marriage labor seems to unfairly fall on them having to take care of this man. The exact thing your grandmother said is what my great aunt always says and what my bestfriend's grandma always says, they aren't widowers but divorced and are very independent ladies in their 70s who are still pretty spunky and who still get offers from older gents but who have zero interest in having another husband. Although, one of my older relatives, a second cousin in her 70s who looks like a 50 something year old, it is unbelievable, anyway, she got remarried about 4 years ago after being widowed 10 years. She had a huge wedding like that of a young couple marrying for the first time. However, her husband is 2 years younger though and seems to be in fine health and they spent a whole year traveling around Europe and the Caribbean and actually built a house there together...so it doesn't seem like theirs was a case of wanting someone to take care of them. Edited October 30, 2014 by MissBee Link to post Share on other sites
FitChick Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 My aunt said she'd only marry a rich man who had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
BlueIris Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 My aunt said she'd only marry a rich man who had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. That's hilarious!! Link to post Share on other sites
GemmaUK Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Some men in their 40's want a 'carer' basically, not just the older guys. These are guys that are unable to do any household chores themselves or as mentioned have some illness that requires daily care. There are plenty of male profiles asking for a carer on OLD . Link to post Share on other sites
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