You know that scare story about how if you are single, you will grow old alone? My fear is that I WON’T grow old alone! I don’t mean that I want to be socially isolated. Like so many other single people, I have friends and family, and I don’t expect that to change. I also don’t mean that I’m worried about not living long enough to grow old, though I do have bad longevity genes. (My mother died at 71 and my father at 64. They were married for more than four decades, so don’t blame their short lives on singlehood!)

No, what I’m talking about is having a place to myself. I love living alone. I savor my solitude when I’m at home, and enjoy the sociability when I’m with others. My fear is that I will not have the financial means to have my own place forever, or that I will not always be in good enough health to live alone. Now that would be an adjustment!