diff --git a/include/ccnx-wrapper.h b/include/ccnx-wrapper.h
index 9b50ae8..4b9b3dd 100644
--- a/include/ccnx-wrapper.h
+++ b/include/ccnx-wrapper.h
@@ -60,9 +60,8 @@
   static string
   extractName(const unsigned char *data, const ccn_indexbuf *comps);
 
-protected:
   Bytes
-  createContentObject(const string &name, const unsigned char *buf, size_t len, int freshness);
+  createContentObject(const string &name, const unsigned char *buf, size_t len, int freshness = 2147/* max value for ccnx*/);
 
   int
   putToCcnd (const Bytes &contentObject);