I find myself in an unusual RL situation these days. My list of RL friends has dwindled as several have died or moved away.
This is my situation and one I've been brooding over quite a bit lately. My RL friends are few and they all live in other states. Making new friends just doesn't seem feasible anymore, in part because I'm totally regressing in social skills, but also because "doing things" is exhausting and my voice is so hoarse that I can't really have casual conversations. It's an effort to talk, and an effort to listen and stay focused on other people when they're in a group, which is how you tend to meet people at first. And my speech is so halting that I can't discuss topics with any nuance or complexity.
Last week I went to the annual office party (very informal lunch) of my former company. These are people who have known me for 20 years or more, and who (hopefully) remember when I could actually talk like a normal human. Even with them, however, I couldn't really take part in the conversations. They talked too fast, and by the time I could get out a word or two, the topic had already shifted. Just keeping up with listening to them (admittedly talking about their children or local events that didn't interest me) was too much. I ended up just sitting there smiling politely and letting the discussions wash over me.
On the one hand, it was great to get out of the house and interact with people I know and like, but on the other, it was a measure of just how much I've lost in capacity to socialize. Doing this with strangers would be exponentially more difficult.
Online forums like VVO are an emotional and intellectual lifeline for me. I feel like a competent, intelligent person when I'm here or on Reddit. I can read and post when I have energy and focus, and no one is timing me on how long it takes me to type a reply. These venues restore my sense of self.
Unfortunately, that's not much help with the practical aspects of living when I'm rapidly becoming a "vulnerable elder". Mrs. Beebo and I manage to prop each other up in various ways, with more or less complementary frailties. She's hard-of-hearing, but has her voice. I hear things she misses, but she can speak up to other people. Whichever one of goes first is going to the leave the other one in the lurch. lol
I'm not quite to the "go outside and join something" point, but it's out there. I'm not unwilling, I'm reluctant. (I live in a very conservative area and I'm anything but conservative). 