Owen

[covert bronze]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[acoustic quest]

« jouer » is sometimes used like that to mean someone's doing something they're not meant to

« Elle joue à la mère de famille en ordonnant à ses frères et sœurs de faire le ménage »
She's not really playing, she could be dead serious, but she's not meant to be like a mother to her siblings, ordering them around

In your example, the mother is not meant to "restart" her (love) life, she's too old (« à la fin d'une vie »)

Slightly unrelated but you can also see the expression « à quoi tu joues ? », which is like "what are you planning/plotting?/what are you doing (that you're not meant to do)?"