Being an unmarried woman over 30, I enjoy my freedom immeasurably – in direct contrast to my many nephews and nieces who are still under 18.

Life was not always like this. Under 18, it was, “Wash the dishes! Dry the dishes!  How many times have I told you to take out the garbage!  Clean the living room! Mop the kitchen and bathroom floors!”  Summer came with the addition of “Pull the *&@%# weeds!”  Thank God my parents reluctantly climbed the stairs to my bedroom to shout, “Clean your room!”

After I ran away from home to college, my mother telegrammed me: “Take out the garbage!”  A phone call explained it was her way of saying she missed me.

So I was shocked when visiting one of my sisters as I watched her 14-year old daughter stand before the open refrigerator for five minutes.  I asked her mother about this bizarre behavior.

“Close the *&@%# icebox door!” my sister yelled.There are advantages to living and working overseas.  Servants.  My apartment is huge.  Sand collects, dishes accumulate, kitchen floors mysteriously become dirty.

Astonished friends ask why I haven’t hired a full-time servant from Ceylon or the Philippines.  “What’s the use of living alone just to hire a live-in maid?” I retort.
Months pass.  One person cleans, but it becomes costly time-wise: he misses an appointment; I forget another. Weeks pass and I’m hosting a meeting. My friends deserve coffee and clean glasses and a dust-free setting.  My servant problem can only forgive so much.

Maybe I could borrow someone’s full-time maid once a month? I open the refrigerator. I’ll solve the problem later. In the meantime,  I wonder what I should and should not eat, where will I go for the holidays, what tricks I can use to force myself to save? Was the test I gave my students too hard or don’t they ever study?  Maybe I should give that great tailor I found that dress to copy…. I’m getting cold and realize I have been happily indulging in my niece’s bizarre behavior!   And no one has yelled at me!  Life is grand when freedom can be measured in such small but delightful everyday events.