Mireille Silcoff

And that's fine. It's all part of the process because I also find that the fleetingness of this middle-aged moment is part of its specialness and part of its poignancy.

And that's fine. It's all part of the process because I also find that the fleetingness of this middle-aged moment is part of its specialness and part of its poignancy.

I want to do whatever feels natural. Right now, still having a pretty healthy sex life feels natural. It doesn't feel like a burden. It doesn't feel bad. It still feels great. But when it doesn't anymore, I would like to have that same confidence, that same self-knowledge, and that same power within myself to say, okay, I don't really feel like doing that so much anymore. My priorities shifted.

I want to do whatever feels natural. Right now, still having a pretty healthy sex life feels natural. It doesn't feel like a burden. It doesn't feel bad. It still feels great. But when it doesn't anymore, I would like to have that same confidence, that same self-knowledge, and that same power within myself to say, okay, I don't really feel like doing that so much anymore. My priorities shifted.

Or, you know, maybe I... I don't know, want to do it once a month or not at all. Or I don't know, you know, but I just want the journey to be organic in that way. And the answer truly is I don't know, because I never would have thought that this was happening to me in my 50s.

Or, you know, maybe I... I don't know, want to do it once a month or not at all. Or I don't know, you know, but I just want the journey to be organic in that way. And the answer truly is I don't know, because I never would have thought that this was happening to me in my 50s.

So I can't really imagine what my 60s are going to be like, especially because for most of my adult life, I didn't think I was going to reach my 60s.

So I can't really imagine what my 60s are going to be like, especially because for most of my adult life, I didn't think I was going to reach my 60s.

I'm going to say a crazy thing that one friend said to me. And I don't know if this is true, but she said that I was fucked back to life.

I'm going to say a crazy thing that one friend said to me. And I don't know if this is true, but she said that I was fucked back to life.

I split up from my ex in my late 40s. And when I came out of it, I just thought that what lay ahead of me would be a pretty spinsterish existence. I was really, really sick for a long time in my adulthood. And my marriage was very long and there were two children. And I just felt like, well, who is going to want this bag of problems?

I split up from my ex in my late 40s. And when I came out of it, I just thought that what lay ahead of me would be a pretty spinsterish existence. I was really, really sick for a long time in my adulthood. And my marriage was very long and there were two children. And I just felt like, well, who is going to want this bag of problems?

I split up from my ex in my late 40s. And when I came out of it, I just thought that what lay ahead of me would be a pretty spinsterish existence. I was really, really sick for a long time in my adulthood. And my marriage was very long and there were two children. And I just felt like, well, who is going to want this bag of problems?

And now I'm 50 and, you know, that's what life is going to be like. I'm going to be Orange P. Cote in Masterpiece Theatre and taking care of my kids and hopefully remobilizing my writing, and that's it. And then instead what happened was, you know, a lot of wonderful new relationships with a lot of wonderful men and the kind of sex that I don't think I had even had in my 20s.

And now I'm 50 and, you know, that's what life is going to be like. I'm going to be Orange P. Cote in Masterpiece Theatre and taking care of my kids and hopefully remobilizing my writing, and that's it. And then instead what happened was, you know, a lot of wonderful new relationships with a lot of wonderful men and the kind of sex that I don't think I had even had in my 20s.

And now I'm 50 and, you know, that's what life is going to be like. I'm going to be Orange P. Cote in Masterpiece Theatre and taking care of my kids and hopefully remobilizing my writing, and that's it. And then instead what happened was, you know, a lot of wonderful new relationships with a lot of wonderful men and the kind of sex that I don't think I had even had in my 20s.

Like a total new world of openness and exploration and interest and comfort in myself and even, I dare say, wisdom. And it felt revelatory. And at first, as I write in the article, I felt like this was my weird, cool story. Like, you know, like, I really did it right, you know, or whatever. But then, you know, as stuff started coming out in the culture and...

Like a total new world of openness and exploration and interest and comfort in myself and even, I dare say, wisdom. And it felt revelatory. And at first, as I write in the article, I felt like this was my weird, cool story. Like, you know, like, I really did it right, you know, or whatever. But then, you know, as stuff started coming out in the culture and...

Like a total new world of openness and exploration and interest and comfort in myself and even, I dare say, wisdom. And it felt revelatory. And at first, as I write in the article, I felt like this was my weird, cool story. Like, you know, like, I really did it right, you know, or whatever. But then, you know, as stuff started coming out in the culture and...

some of my other friends divorced and had similar situations to mine, I realized that, you know, what I had been doing or what I had experienced post-marriage was really part of a much larger cultural story that might ring true for many women in America and beyond today.