I’m not sure whether to file today’s post under “100 Good Things” or “100 Bad Things” about being single.
Let’s start out with a few facts:
- I’m a single woman.
- Over 30.
- I love cats.
- I have two cats.
- I tend to talk about my cats as if they’re my kids.
- I post pictures of my cats regularly on Facebook & Instagram.
So am I a crazy cat lady? I love my cats. They bring endless amusement and joy to my life. Also endless frustration, since one of the cats insists on waking me up in the middle of the night by knocking over anything she can find that makes noise, and the other frequently meows piteously for company, then hides under the bed when you go looking for him.
When my coworkers talk about their kids, I can occasionally relate because I’m a cat-mom. (Yes, I realize that my use of the term “cat-mom” probably qualifies me instantly for cat-lady-dom, do not pass Go, do not collect $100.)
But the fact is, even for single people who have lots of healthy human relationships, loneliness lurks around corners, waiting to spring out at you and make you feel inadequate. Except it’s hard to feel inadequate when you have 15 pounds of warm, purring kitty sitting on your lap and licking your wrist.
I won’t even talk about how unfair it is that crazy single people who own 10 dogs aren’t referred to as crazy dog ladies, even though I firmly believe those folks are way crazier than I am. I mean, at least my cats go to the bathroom by themselves! (Of course, there I go, feeling superior as a cat-lover, which means I’m probably closer to cat-lady-dom than I want to believe.)
I cling to the belief that if I only own two cats, I don’t count as a crazy cat lady. But I’m not sure if that’s even a widely-accepted belief, or just something I’ve constructed in my head so I don’t have to fully embrace the knowledge that someday I will die alone, unmissed, and have my face eaten by my hungry cats.
Single White Christian 
Speak up!