'Lonely old men'

This is really sad:

Half a million elderly men lead lonely lives with no friends and no contact from their families, a report warned yesterday.
It found that one person in five with an elderly father is no longer in touch with him. One in four claims to be too busy to maintain contact.
Divorce and family break-up has left millions of men without ties to their children and with few or no family links, said the charity Help the Aged.
Retirement deprives many of the company of work colleagues and others are left alone by bereavement or their own poor health.
Amy Swan of Help the Aged said: 'We are seeing the first real wave of the "divorce generation" hitting retirement.
'As fathers were typically the parents who did not win custody of the children, many are entering later life with strained family ties.
'Today, around half the number of older men living alone are experiencing some form of loneliness or isolation.'

(Note to self: Hug wife. Often.)