The Wedding Bug

Today I met up with an old friend from high school.

Yep, I'm still searching for that circle of friends that I had when I first moved away. At first I'll admit I was being sexist and only wanted to find new male friends. But now I've decided that hanging out with chicks may do the trick.

I promised a friend from Nashville I'd hang out with one of her friends but kid you not every time I text her to see what she wants to do she says she has plans.

Then there's another girl I met from my volunteer gig with the ABA team. We got along good at the games and promised to hang out but the one we planned something she was sick and couldn't make it. The next time she reached out I had already made plans for the time she was available.

Last week when I hung out with a friend from college, we missed the movie we wanted to see but we had a great time catching up over dinner so it didn't matter. And we made tenative plans to watch the the Idris Elba & Beyonce movie when it comes out next month.

Still, a month is a long-time away so that led me to go back to my high school friend rolodex. Now here's something I may have said before but I'll reiterate quickly. I don't talk to anyone from high school if I can help it. The person I spoke with the most was the ex and now that that's over, there's no one other than my sister and her husband I speak with on a regular basis. Mostly it's because so many girls wanted the ex when we were in school that I made a lot of enemies because of our relationship. To this day I could not 100% tell you who from back then were my real friends so I'd rather leave them in the past.

However, there is one person who was a good friend and didn't want the ex. We were drum majors together and hung out outside the school walls so I reached out.

Today we had lunch and it was really great to see her again. She looks fabulous and is doing well for herself. Of course when the talk came to relationships she talked about hers and I began to get uncomfortable because this was really familiar territory.

She and her boyfriend-whom I think is probably one of the sweetest guys in the world and may actually deserve her- have been together for 7.5 years. They started dating in high school. She graduated a year after me and they began dating her senior year.

So after 7.5 CONSECUTIVE years, she is of course ready to get married. And while she doesn't want to tell him just how ready she is, she did tell me. Again and again.

I almost had deja vu of a luncheon I had with some girls in Nashville where they had actually begun planning one girl's wedding (she was 24) to a 39-year-old bachelor after six months of dating and (wait for it) BEFORE he had even proposed.

Needless to say, I was eating lunch at one of my favorite hot spots one day (and only 1-2 months later) and I saw her and the guy at what looked like a family gathering of sorts and she had a ring on her left finger. I called the friend who had invited me to meet the girl and she confirmed that yes, she was indeed engaged.

If you are ready for marriage, I'm not against it at all. BUT when you have people who aren't ready to get married themselves, please have mercy on their sanity and don't go on and on about the subject.

Based on a few things she shared I told her I wouldn't be surprised if he proposes in the very near future and that he may have the ring. I'm now convinced that when you've seriously broached the topic of marriage and the guy hasn't run from the conversations, chances are when they begin spending money on things you think are ludicrous or being evasive, they have the ring and they are waiting to put their master plan in action.

That's just my new theory based on all the stories my friends have told me. So, because I want her to be happy, I'll give her six months before he proposes. AND the next time we hang out, I think I might see if we can go to a movie. Preferably one where no one gets married.