Rita Moreno has been making friends in the supermarket.
Rita Moreno was lonely
The '80 For Brady' star realised a few years ago she felt lonely after moving to a new apartment, so decided to take matters into her own hands and make connections with the people she met while running errands.
Rita - who turns 92 next month - told People magazine about how she felt "so sad" after she moved: “My daughter [jewellery designer Fernanda Luisa Gordon] noticed and she said, ‘What's wrong?’ I said I didn't know. I didn't know what was wrong.
“I really didn’t understand what was happening.
“I remember thinking, ‘I can't go on like this.’ I'm in the most beautiful apartment in the world as far as I'm concerned, and this is happening. Why is this happening?
"I took all my experience in therapy, psychotherapy, and just kind of punched it together and said, ‘What's wrong? Something's wrong, and it has to do with you since you moved."
The 'West Side Story' actress eventually realised she was "really lonely" because none of her friends or family were nearby anymore, but it also occurred to her that she didn't know how to make friends.
She said: “It's the most fascinating thing to learn about yourself.
“I've never had to seek people's company. You know why? Because people have always come to me.”
Not wanting to stay unhappy, Rita decided to do something about the "ridiculous" situation, and quickly made a new friend.
She said: “One day I thought, ‘This is ridiculous. I have to meet some people.'
“That particular day when I made that decision, I went to the supermarket to do some shopping, and I ran into a lady who I kept running into, who's lovely.
“She had this big smile on her face, and she recognised me, obviously, and we started to talk. I said to her, ‘Would you like to have lunch with me?’
“She said, ‘Lunch with you? Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She said, ‘Yeah.’ We went and had lunch.
“She sat down and she said, ‘Do you always pick people up like this in the market?’
“I told her the truth. I said, ‘No, but you always have struck me as such a lovely person. Since I'm new here and I don't know anybody, I thought I'd take a dip.’ She's lovely."
And Rita went on to make a number of other friends in her new neighbourhood.
She said: “I also met people from the apartment, the building, who are marvellous. I'm so lucky.”
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