Emily
Emily
Jul 28, 2017 · 2 min read

This is so great! But 4 years of living alone? Oh, honey. From the age of 22 (when I graduated college and went to grad school) to 35 (when my now-husband and I moved in together), I pretty much lived alone (there were some various temporary shacking ups, but not quite “living together.”). I do miss it sometimes. It was awesome. I’m an only child, so the “alone” thing didn’t get to me. Plus, I had my cat, Ms. Jones. Who sounds like she’d fit in the book you mention.

I remember the moment I realized that, if I’m hungry at 4:00 I do NOT have to wait until 5 or 6 for “dinner time.” It’s my time! I say when it is dinner time! That was embarrassingly freeing at the time.

Btw. I dated all through this time, too — so I made choices to NOT live with people. I was very possessive of my own space. Still am. My husband and I are both only children, and we’ve always lived in 3 bedroom places (we live in NC, so this is possible economically) — we have a room, he has a room, I have a room. It’s not a bad system.

Anyway, have a fabulous time living alone! It was a huge part of my growing up. Looking back, I remember how excited I was when I paid all my own bills. (I had lived in dorms in college, no real bills.) Writing out checks at the appropriate time. Filling out the forms, slipping things into envelopes, stamping them and dropping them off. Balancing my checkbook! I was an adult! Adulting! (before that word, and online banking, became a thing!) I learned how to clean, to cook, to do minor plumbing and other fixes (landlords were not super great at doing things in a timely manner).

Doing big things alone (including a lot of solo travel), more than anything else I’ve done, made me a confident and capable person.

I can’t think of a thing I’d recommend more to every single young person. Live by yourself and take care of yourself alone for at least a little while, if only to prove to yourself you can do it. Sometimes you can’t — living alone is expensive, or can be.

I wouldn’t give up that time for anything.

    Emily

    Written by

    Emily

    prof, writer, hockey fan, cat owner.