Alter Talk

I decided to call my friend Chrissy the other day for some random kicks and giggles when she broke it to me that she is getting married.
As she discussed her plans for the wedding , this weird feeling swooshed around in my stomach. It was like I was totally happy for her, but mortified for myself. You see, Chrissy is the first one of my friends to actually be getting married. Of course, I have those friends who claim to be engaged or who call some booty buddy their husband, but Chrissy is actually getting married. I mean, she bought a dress, so it's pretty much official.
The reason I became creeped out is that everybody knows that once the first friend gets married, your when-are-you-getting-married clock starts ticking. I don't want to get married myself, but my blood ran cold thinking of how many weddings I would have to attend for my other girlfriends, having to keep repeating my Rated G reasons for why I don't want to tie the knot. Probably some bull-wrapped blabber about work and finances.
Even if I wanted to get married, the odds are not in my corner. Neither my mom nor my aunts are married, and I have come to believe that whether or not you will get married is genetic. Plus, my mom once told me that if you don't find your husband in undergrad, you will never get married. I used to think that that was far-fetched, but not anymore after meeting all the college-educated single women here in Atlanta, 30 and up.
I've known since I was a kid that I was going to be the old maid, primarily because everything an old maid has is her own. She doesn't have to share or answer to anyone. But now, since Chrissy is getting married and I'm sure that she is not the only friend that will, I will seriously have to come to terms with this way sooner than I wanted to.