A Story A Day. Story 180 of 365: Weddings.

Miranda was the first of my friends to get married. I was 23 and she was 29, the older sister I never had. I was very excited at her wedding, being it the first one I was attending as an adult. Everything looked beautiful and romantic to me. I was sitting on a table full of single people, most of them around my age, cousins and siblings of Miranda. We drunk and we joked, and the old ladies would tell us, the girls, that we would be beautiful brides in our day, too.

Susanna was the second, a couple of years after, she had been my friend since childhood and she had been dating her now husband for eight years. As maid of honor I became really involved in the wedding, her mother kept telling me it would get practice for when it was my turn. I was very emotional that day, I remembered all the good times we had together and I cried. We hugged, and we danced, and we laughed like children.

Hellen, my little sister, was next. When she told me, I told her I was happy for her, but a part of me thought she was too young. She was only 22 after all. Yet, I only have one sister, and if that was going to make her happy, I had no right to complain. During her wedding everyone seemed to think it was convenient to remind me I was the older one, so I should have gotten married before Hellen. 

Next were Elisa, Beth, Ruth, and Louise. All on the same year, when we were 27. In each occasion I was teased on how I would be the following one. 

But I wasn't. Jason followed them, one year later, the first one of my male friends to get married, the most unlikely of them all. A known cheater and womanizer had been tamed by a girl who looked as if she had never hurt a fly. I had lots of fun during that wedding, Jason's friends were all goofballs. I also hooked up with the best man, but it was a short-lived fling, although both Jason and his wife were hopeful my wedding would come out of theirs. 

My 29th year on earth was also a wedding-packed one. Everyone told me I needed to hurry and find a good husband or it would be too late for me. I simply ignored everyone's remarks. I had had my share of weddings already, I didn't think anyone else needed another one, specially not mine.

At some point everyone stopped caring whether I got married or not, it was a relief, because, sincerely, I had no wish to marry.