The Marrieds

Meggy is getting married in three months and I'm going to be her bridesmaid. I can't wait!

We met in Chinese school almost two decades ago and bonded over a love of books. Admittedly, my interest stagnated while hers blossomed and matured: she's a published author, in a MFA writing program, wildly intelligent, well-read. Now my lovely friend is my first close childhood chum to get married.

Especially in the last year, there have been a rash of engagements and weddings amongst my acquaintances, classmates, and friends. Everyone seems to be catching a case of The Marrieds. The Singles are dropping like flies. It's funny - I used to think that getting married was a sign of being Grown Up. I used to think that an enormous chasm stood between single life and married life; now I realize it's just a quiet trickle. I think that getting married must feel like a birthday - you expect to feel different but you don't, because when you're really in love, it transcends formalities.

Sometimes, a small part of me feels that I must be falling behind or maybe missing out on something. I'm suffering from Singledom and unlike everyone else who has been cured, I'm missing the antidote. But then I remember how much I want to forge my own way, even if I seem to have meandered off the beaten path. I'm not in any hurry.

It reminds me of a line I read in The Zahir that goes something like: "Love is a disease that that no one wants to get rid of. Those who catch it never try to get better and those who suffer do not wish to be cured."