Spinster

The other day I met someone that thought I was 9 years younger than I actually am. I'm not sure if they were being generous or sincere, but it felt good anyway. Nope, I'm not a thirty-something anymore. I am firmly embracing my forty-hood. And nope, I haven't been married. And yup, I've had the opportunity, thank you very much. AND- I still plan to get married at some point in the future.

**Gasp!**

But how can that be? Don't you have a better chance of getting attacked by terrorists? Or at least hit by a bus? Haven't you looked at the census numbers? What are the odds? Didn't you know that you are now firmly placed in the category called "Spinster?"

I don't feel old. I don't look old. In fact, when my mom came to visit last week, I took a good, long look at her. She's 62 and I swear she could pass for 50. A good, attractive, 50. In looks and actions. My grandmother turns 86 next week, and doesn't look at day over 70. Again- not just how she looks, but how she lives her life. So hopefully, I have some tough genes and DNA working in my favor as far as remaining youthful.

Back to the subject- Spinster. What an ugly sounding word. Conjures up images of witches- not the good kind. Doesn't seem to fit me, or any of the woman I know that are in my same demographic.

What do they call single men? Bachelors. Do they get a new label when they reach a certain age? No.

I guess I could claim "bachelorette", but I'm too much of a woman to be an "ette" anything...

I looked up "single woman" and "spinster" in the thesaurus (a current 2007 thesaurus), trying to find a more accurate sounding description. This is actually what I found:

old maid, older unmarried woman, bachelor girl, fuddy-duddy, goody-goody, lone woman, maiden, prig, prude, single woman, spinster, unmarried woman,bachelor, batch, celibate, chaste, cherry, eligible, fancy-free, footloose, husbandless, maiden, single, sole, spinster, spouseless, unattached, uncoupled, unhitched, unwed, unwedded, virgin, virginal, widowed,

YIKES!

So the best I could come up with based on the words I could find?

"Eligible Maiden"

Any other suggestions?