Personal: What is the difference between a friendship and a relationship?

Sex

That is the fast, easy, single-word, off-the-cuff answer to sum up the difference between a "relationship" and a "friendship."

The question is "what does the phrase 'friends with benefits' mean to me...?"

But wait...

Age

I am approaching this question as a Septuagenarian ~ I am 70 years old and my perspective is different from that of a 20-year-old.

My last physical relationship ended in January of this year. But that is not as much of a problem as you would think. My sexual prowess has been waning over the last few years, and erections are fewer and further apart (much further apart) and I sometimes speculate that may have been why it ended.

Intimacy

I can ~ and do ~ fill up my days and waking hours. The pendulum swings from too busy to too distracted (read my article about Parkinson's Law), and there's a few things I worry about in my spare moments.

My life is not empty.

I have Meetups that fulfill social space and SCORE that fulfills a need to volunteer. My involvement with the Pinellas Genealogy Society gives me opportunities for social interaction and technical focus and serving with other people in a greater purpose.

What I do miss are the preparations of going to bed with someone, the intimate contact of sleeping with them and sharing morning coffee on the downstairs porch.

Now, the day can begin....