In one of my early generations I had a single mother. A child appeared asking for adoption as soon as she entered the house, so I felt I could be a little more choosy than usual with potential husbands for her, and turned down two or three proposals. The same event happened later on, so she became a single parent twice. When the youngest child was about 18 I realised she'd be all alone in the house when he went off to college, and therefore accepted the next proposal a short time later. I can't remember her age at the time but it must have been around 50. They didn't have any more children, but at least she wasn't alone in her later years.
For a time I also had a male single parent; again, the 'soft knock' came as he was entering the house so I felt able to turn down the first proposal received, from someone who definitely didn't want children and was in a fairly poor job, if I recall correctly. The next proposal was from someone a lot more suitable, and they went on to have a further five children.
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To err is human; to arr is pirate.