My dream in life is to be alone, to go outside and work all day without interruptions, basking in the peace and the solitude of my gardens, eating all I want when I want, without having to stop and cook dinner. I’ll get this chance, if all goes well, in less than 14 years. Time flies anyway, I’m constantly busy, happy and fulfilled, but truly isolation and seclusion appeal greatly to me. I dream about it quite often.

Then I read this article in Newsweek, suggesting that isolation and loneliness actually alters the immune system, making folks more susceptible to diseases. And stress doesn’t? I wanted to holler sarcastically. Repainting a room that just had the walls punched in once again raises my blood pressure while I internally struggle to maintain a façade of calm. And how about the generous feces smearer that feels an overwhelming need to illustrate his feelings with liberal applications of poop? Wouldn’t solitude be more fun? Can’t a girl dream?

“Chronic social isolation is linked to heart disease—it stresses the entire cardiovascular system—and can also hurt our ability to fend off colds and other viruses.”

I’m, of course, patently missing the point of this article on purpose.

“…the startling fact that it is the perception of loneliness that triggers the adverse health conditions, independent of how much social interaction an individual actually has. Even someone with hundreds of “friends” on Facebook or at the office might think of herself as a lonely person.”

We see this out in the world wherever we have interactions with others. I see sad sacks at church, on the ball field and at the grocery store. That’s pretty much the scope of my travels. Surrounded by people, I see so much loneliness. This discernment that I seem to have, the ability to understand the real issue involved in my turd slinging young’uns allows me to cope and to help them move to a more mature manner of expressing their anger.

I’ve often felt that more people should be foster or adoptive parents if only to experience the simple act of giving.

Just be a foster parent for a year, you might find out how fulfilling it truly is, it may give one a new lease on life. It’ll certainly ease the pains of loneliness that so many people feel on a daily basis.

Living as I do in such a large family, I find that I’m the only one who consistently feels the need to be alone. My children flock to where the party is, usually the living room, family room or kitchen. It is a rare day to find someone alone in their bedroom. They are very sociable kids, sometimes appropriately so, sometimes they just want someone to squabble with, depends on the slant of the moon or the weight of the atmosphere. Who knows what sets them off?

I’m a strong believer in strengthening one’s immune system, my kid’s systems were all nearly shattered by their many losses so I use therapy, vitamins, good nutrition and exercise to build them back up and I’m gratified to learn there’s no danger of loneliness here for them.