When I was an undergrad, one of my advisors was joking about going out to dinner by yourself and how she wanted to just walk up and say table for one, last name “Bitter” – so that the hostess would have to say “Bitter, Table for one,” because everyone is judging the “party of one” anyway, so why not?

I am perpetually (permanently?) single and think about this often. Am I “Bitter, Table for one?” I also have a cat and am over the age of 30 (and did I mention single?)…am I the “Crazy Cat Lady?” Am I defined by my singleness?

I struggled with this for years; weighing my worth by where I was supposed to be by ‘x’ age and what my “peers” were doing. I avoided talking to people who were more successful or in relationships who might ask me about what I was doing. I evaded and rationalized and told myself that I would do something to change this seemingly huge failing. Then…one day…

F*ck that. I am single. I am sometimes bitter. I’m sometimes even bitter about being single. I have a cat. I am a lady. I am sometimes crazy. I am a crazy cat lady. Who cares?! I like living alone (with my cat) and there isn’t a score card where they tally what you “should” be doing at any stage in life. What I “should” be doing, is what I am doing.

So yes…I am a single, sometimes bitter, crazy cat lady. That’s who I am.