I keep the radio on in every room

Dear Delyara, My wife died four years ago. I keep radios on in the kitchen, bedroom, and sitting room. Different stations sometimes. My children complain when they visit because voices overlap. That is the point. Silence makes the house too accurate. With radios on, someone is discussing weather, football, traffic, politics. People are still having arguments somewhere. Someone laughs while I make tea. At night, I fall asleep to late-night phone-ins because strangers telling stories to strangers makes the room feel inhabited. Last week, the power went out. The house became completely silent. I sat in the dark and heard the refrigerator stop humming, then nothing. I lasted twelve minutes before going to the car and turning its radio on. My daughter says I should consider moving somewhere smaller or joining more activities. Perhaps. But loneliness is not simply lack of social plans. I have friends. I see people. It is returning afterward to a house where no other human noise happens unless I manufacture it. Tonight, three radios are playing. One is too loud. I am not turning it down.