Single Occupancy

Still, I was taken aback by one woman's answer to my question. She's 77, and has lived alone since her husband's death many years ago. What does she like about living alone? "Nothing," she said. Not one thing.

That's when you realize that spouses die, partners leave, children aren't always there when you need them, and living alone is not always a choice.

So I asked: What do you like least about living alone?

"That I have no one to open the pickle jar, reach the top shelf, fix things and carry heavy loads,” lamented one female friend, while another said, "No one to scratch my back, and it's awful being sick alone."

"All the chores, all the financial responsibility," one complained, and another agreed: "Didn't I just do dishes and laundry last month? I have to do them again?!”

Most of us admitted to occasional feelings of loneliness. The quiet can be overpowering. Personally, I miss intimacy the most, both physical intimacy (aren't I in the sexual prime of my life? What a waste!) and emotional intimacy.