Do the old people in the United States like to live alone No doubt some of them do. {{U}}61{{/U}} at least some of them {{U}}62{{/U}} living alone to the changes and {{U}}63{{/U}} that living with others needs. Independence is, {{U}}64{{/U}} , the chief and most honored {{U}}65{{/U}} in this country.Deeply rooted {{U}}66{{/U}} us early, the ideal remains even when we can no longer “stand on our own feet”, {{U}}67{{/U}} literally. When our {{U}}68{{/U}} parents’ need for help grows too obvious to {{U}}69{{/U}} , we say they are beginning to “fail.” Losing one’s independence is, forAmericans, a {{U}}70{{/U}} thing.And needing help, we know, {{U}}71{{/U}} pity, frustration and {{U}}72{{/U}} in our potential helpers.We are all, through our lives, {{U}}73{{/U}} to others. From the moment of {{U}}74{{/U}} , we are nourished and nurtured by others.As adults we learn to pay for or negotiate our {{U}}75{{/U}} needs, but the fact {{U}}76{{/U}} that it takes an {{U}}77{{/U}} army of other people to grow our food, clean our clothes, maintain our roads, fuel our furnaces. When we {{U}}78{{/U}} , we accept another’s pledge to stick with us in sickness and health, {{U}}79{{/U}} and poverty. The load we lay on {{U}}80{{/U}} only becomes visible, less deniable, as we age.