I hope you meet a lot of nice people out there. But don't be fooled by their looks, their profile statements, or their fluent email banter. Go for the face-to-face meeting with as little hassle and energy as possible. If it becomes difficult to land the date, for whatever reason, move on. If they wanted to meet they would also be trying to make it happen, not giving excuses.
There are plenty of fit and fantastic-looking people using online dating. 99% of them will not give you the time of day. That's okay. You only need ONE YES to change your life.
Something about my celebration of my kids, my ability to house them while it was my weekend, caused my ex-wife more fury.
My ex-wife screwed me in the divorce and she and the therapist that setup our 70/30 parenting plan knew it. They were not basing their plans on science, but on "what's best for the kids" mythology that has been perpetuated since my parents got a divorce 49 years ago.
Your best photo causes me to say, "I want to be the one taking these photos of her, I want to be the one making her smile like that."
When you lose your kids to divorce and then to teenagehood, you really have to begin letting them go. It's only two years before my son will be heading out on his big adventure. What can I do with him in the next two years? How can I show up for both of them?
Find what you like and what she doesn't like. Find new things you can both explore together. And find how your needs, desires, and futures align.
Sure, In online dating we all want to put our best foot forward, and make younger and prettier partners desire us, but if we're all doing that, if we're all being inauthentic... Well, that's part of the problem.