4.
“One of the biggest myths is that I have tons of money and free time. I do not have either. For instance, no one has given me a discount to repair my car or house because I am single. Plus, it takes the same time to fly from one destination to another. The plane doesn’t go faster because it is inundated with single people. I still have to balance my checkbook just like anyone else. The only difference is that I’m probably better at it than most and don’t have a family and children to blame unnecessary expenses on.”
“I also believe the hardest thing for me is that I have longed for a partner and children for the wrong reasons. I want to be part of that community to continually talk about children and their partners at social gatherings because that is pretty much their life. I feel left out because I talk about traveling the world, volunteering in my community, writing new books, attending concerts and sporting events, and living life. It becomes quite a turnoff when speaking to most other people because they don’t understand why I get to do all this stuff and they don’t. At first, I didn’t choose to be single with no kids. However, after multiple decades of trying to fit into that ‘nuclear family’ mode, I realized that some people are meant to be great on their own.”
—45, Maryland
