Oscar Not Wilde

Wow, this message was most certainly inspiring. I'm learning a common theme: don't worry about the past but focus on moving ahead. And based on your experience, I can certainly see that is totally within my reach ... Thanks a million.

The solution to the problem has a good ending.
A man and his wife came by my house this morning to take the dog.  
They seem like caring people. 
Even though this was a stressful situation seeing the dog pushed out of a car, I cannot help but think of William Shakespeare when he wrote:
"All is well that ends well."
 
Thanks for all the suggestions
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Hey Cure69 I've known I was gay since I was a teenager, I'm now 80.  For a whole host of reasons I didn't act upon that knowledge until I was 61 1/2.  Do I regret that I waited so long -- not really -- life is what it is.  As far as I'm concerned regret is a total waste of time  - it doesn't change anything so why bother.  Since I hired my first escort at 61 1/2 I've never stopped and looked back.  I got together with two guys for a three-way last week and am getting together with my regular go to guy next week.  I'm enjoying life and having a ball, right now, and for me, at least, that's all that counts.  ENJOY!!!

Hope you are doing well.  First, you are definitely not the only late bloomer here.  You are way further ahead than I am, and I am in my late 40s.  There aren't even any buds on this plant, never mind blooms! LOL.  Try not to overthink too much about time.  There is no way to regain the time that has passed, so it is important to accept it.  And also honour all that you have gained during the past 40 years - such as family and friends who you may not have met had things proceeded differently.  Hopefully you will have many, many decades ahead of you to live your truth, and I also hope that your spouse and any children you might have will come to accept you, and that the love you all share might somehow be strengthened in the long run.

@Cure69'Late bloomer' here, but I didn't go down the 'path expected' I just didn't go anywhere. Busy professional life enabled me to ignore that part of my make-up. It wasn't that I denied it, I just didn't see what is now obvious. I brushed it off when others asked me when I would marry and didn't ask myself that question, at least not seriously. I eventually did, and answered it to myself quickly, but kept it to myself without acting on it for a while longer. I'm now in my 60s.
Did I miss out on things, as you feel you did? Hell yes, but I take the view that it is what it is and I'm not trying to catch up with what I may have missed. I have missed those things, now it's a matter of making the best of the rest of my life. Regretting the past is for me a waste of energy. I realise it's far more complex for you, you have 20 or so years of an adult life that is at odds with how you see yourself now, and have to work out how, or even if to disentangle the two. For me, my earlier life is not at odds with the current version, I've just added a new strand to my identity. I didn't put an ad in the paper, but I was quickly found by a couple of [then] current and past work colleagues when I joined an online forum. I'm still in the mode of not advertising my sexuality, but not trying to hide it. My sister is gay, so that was one conversation I eventually had that wasn't too difficult.
I haven't been very good at finding social or romantic contacts (if I'd been good at that I may have found an opposite sex one because 'straight' is the default and assumed identity in this society even when you don't consciously adopt it). I did join a gay camping group and had good interactions with others there, but nothing beyond its outings. I came to this community because I had hired once or twice and saw hiring companions as being a great way to overcome my nervousness and inexperience in sexual matters, and the forum has helped me overcome my nervousness with the hiring process. I have also found it to be a great place for all sorts of discussions on those and other issues.
I hope that others will contribute to the discussion.

Nice ass, and I should know