Alpha widowhood is a concept that some reject, whilst others proclaim of its validity.

What I want to do is hear some stories of those have experienced what we would call alpha widow hurt, what happened, how it was resolved, and how you'd advise those who can't get over that special dude... or if this slight burn has ever really passed?

Here's an example of the emotional turbulence a women may express feeling after losing out on her one that got away. With her portrayal being upmost novelistic in tone "Dark, brooding and with a hint of world-weary danger, he was a cross between a 19th-century decadent poet and a Hollywood heartthrob."

Such powerful language she uses!

The article is full of heart-wrenching gold "I could never forget [ex] John Pellowe and the memory of my unrequited love for him put a pall on the marriage, with [husband] Neville always feeling he was somehow second best. He used to refer to ‘that chap in your past’ — neither of us could even bring ourselves to mention his name, though we both remembered it only too well."

For me, this quote is quite pertinent, as it's very much the type of stuff I hear when talking to female friends about their old flames "I must say I always felt much more at ease with Neville than I ever had with John, but I had lost the ability to love in that passionate, all-consuming way."

Now, ladies, who perpetually claim that you feel nothing for "alphas" don't let this get in the way of your anecdote, perspective -- or lack of -- on the topic. What I mean is what you feel as synonymous to the depiction above, the guys you couldn't get over, whichever "type" you want to class them as. If you feel as though the concept needs broadening then add your own addendum to it.

With some women, you can see it painted on their face; this particular pained expression, when a) forced to be social around an ex who's not about her no more and b) recalling the ex, she still maintains this intensity for the special guy. They speak of his unprecedented intelligence, or the profound connection they shared, or his wit. You come to realise as she's opening up to you - whilst her new bf is getting the drinks in. She essentially cucked herself into a life; whilst she has way more stability - is void of lust and thrill she so vividly recalls. Seems that women can handle pining of such intensity if the new life can provide external value and she can corroborate a story that enables her to shrug off (in a conscious sense) the previous man in the name of an unrealistic expectation.