She: I know that we talked about turning the apartment where your mother was before she passed away into an office for you, but I had an idea...
He: You know I need more space. My papers! Where I work now is a closet.
She: But you're out of the office most of the time anyway. And if you let me organize your papers, you'd have plenty of space. Anyway, how much longer are you going to need an office.
He: An office is not just a place for doing business. You know that.
She: Well, here's my thought and I think you'll like it. I've been thinking about co-housing, you know, people living together with privacy but also community. So let's rent it out to another older person, a person we both can live with (and can live with us). Let's try living with someone we like, someone we can have dinner with, talk to, perhaps do things with.
He: Are you thinking of renting out the space? I don't want some college kid raising hell in my house!
She: No, you weren't listening. A person our age or maybe younger, anyway someone who is interested in living with other people--sharing the cooking, the gardening, the house--that kind of thing.
He: I heard. I just didn't want to encourage this crazy notion. Are you talking about another person in this house? I like this place just as it is. It's quiet. Everything is where it should be. Our routine is peaceful. Bring another person in and everything will change. It'll be disaster.
She: But that's just it. It's a big house, and, since the kids left and your mother died, too still for my taste. You come home and, sure we talk, but this place feels more empty than it should. Everywhere people are living alone. It's good for the planet for people to live together. And it's less lonely.
He: Lonely? But you're always out on your little projects or on the phone. And you have me.
She: You know a woman needs more than just a husband to talk to. But it's not just talk. I want a companion. Not all the time but sometimes somebody to do things with, you know those little things that aren't worth calling someone up about, but which are so pleasant--like making special breakfasts or watching movies.
He: What guy would be interested in that kind of stuff?
She: Silly, you know I'm not talking about a man. Who would want another man around the house?
He: Thanks a lot, but that can go both ways. Most of the women our age living alone are set in their ways, crotchety, 'can't eat this, don't do that' kind of people. Many of them have pets they treat like children. They've had enough of men, and I'm not going to leave, so there.
She: I'm talking about somebody we both like, somebody you find interesting as much as I do.
He: Are you sure you want another alluring woman in the house?
She: I don't know I'm so alluring, or even so interesting. But I can be if there's someone stimulating around. And besides, its just an experiment. We can stop when we want. What about it?
He: I don't know where you could find that 'sister' you're looking for. And I don't know how one would legally set up such an arrangement or terminate it if it goes bad. It sounds tricky to get right.
She: I'll show you the article I was reading. This kind of thing is happening all over. People our age are doing it more and more. There are a couple of organizations that know all about the technicalities.
He: Another person in the house, morning and night...and weekends.
She: She'd have her own space. We'd have ours. Just sometimes we'd share. We'd arrange it so everybody had as much privacy as they wanted.
He: I don't know where you'll find that special person. I wouldn't know where to look. And I'm not going to agree if I have any reservations whatsoever, you understand. I value my peace and quiet too much.
She: I wouldn't do that to you. You know I wouldn't. We don't have to do anything right away. Let me just keep my eyes open, okay?
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