When All Your Friends Get Married – Except You
When you get to your mid-20’s, a funny thing starts to happen. Your friends start to change. They stop saying “I” and start saying “we.” You get invited over on Sundays for brunch instead of for football. And they’re buying artwork instead of posters.
Yeah. They all start getting married. It’s like a cult. Instead of handing out flowers at the airport, they’re handing out florists’ business cards and pictures of their receptions. You’ve rented more tuxedos or bought more bridesmaid dresses in the past year than you have in the past 10. Every weekend from Memorial Day to Halloween is booked with a shower, a party, a rehearsal dinner, a ceremony, a reception, or any combination of the above.
And, you’re single.
And feeling left out.
It’s easy to start to panic. To hear the ominous tones of a biological clock ticking. And, of course, to start picturing yourself at 80, alone and living with 600 cats. Your whole world starts to spin, and like some frantic game of “tag,” your friends are getting picked off right and left.
First to go are all the friends who’ve had the same sweetie for years. This is no big deal. You knew they going to be married back in 10th grade. Next are the people who always seemed to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, but changed ’em every 8 months or so. You don’t have the highest expectations for their marriages, and you figure they’ll be single again soon, so you don’t panic then, either.
The real mania sets in when the losers of your group start getting hitched. You know who – the folks who could never get a date in high school. Or college. Or for 5 years afterwards. The people you always looked at and thought, “well, I know I won’t be single as long as THEM.”
Well, lookee here. The cheese stands alone.
And you venture from ceremony to ceremony, reception to reception, wondering what went wrong. Why your life sucks. And why you’ll never get married.
STOP IT. I don’t know if it’s the champagne, the cake, or the sappy music that does it, but your life doesn’t suck. Big deal if you’re not married yet, and have no prospects. As cliché ¡s it sounds, your time will come. You may feel like it, but you’re not in “the game of Life,” and you’re not racing to see who makes it to the end with a car, a house, and 2.6 kids.
Did you ever think, for a moment, how cool it is to be a single guy or gal at a wedding? It’s romantic. It’s sappy. You’re looking dapper, and dressed to the nines. And you’re available. Welcome to the ball, Cinderella!
Oh yes. The time is yours. You can work that room the way Sinatra worked Vegas.
So think about it that way. Ignore the visions of cats and scaring kids off your lawn. Love and romance aren’t about panicking and rushing into something because your kid sister got married before you did.
Eventually, love will find you, and you’ll find yourself a shiny ring and rock. You’ll walk down the aisle. And for those of you who think it’s a race, you’ll finally catch up.
…Until they all start having babies.
EEK!
