I was all better now and cheered up when my phone rang. I picked it up absentmindedly. I’d hardly managed a hello before a shrill screech came through: “Hey, you would never guess who just got married!!!”....

Continued from May 17th 2011.

“Please let it be William*,” one voice in my head prayed anxiously.

“Please don’t let it be William,” another voice prayed just as anxiously.

Do you remember Grace*? She went to University with us?

I didn’t remember Grace.  I couldn’t recall her going to University with us.

The caller on the other end was frantic. How could I not remember Grace?  Didn’t I remember that time when Grace said that funny thing? Or how about that other time when Grace did that funny thing?

I accepted that Grace must have been an all-around funny girl, but, had to admit that I still couldn’t remember her.  I suggested that it would all come back to me later. For now, we could deal with why this Grace’s marriage should be of interest to me.

Grace had made an excellent match for herself. She had just gotten married to a quiet and successful man who thought that the universe could offer up nothing more precious than his Gracie. Grace was doing well for herself too- was in a very stable job and respected by her peers.

“You really do not remember Grace?” my caller was beside herself in disbelief.

Eventually the conversation came to an end. We were getting nowhere. My memory was proving most difficult.  I wouldn’t get what all the uproar was about if I didn’t remember Grace and why she was the last woman anyone would expect to get married. A few hours later and Grace was still a mystery. I gave up. I wasn’t going to ridicule or think ill of a woman I couldn’t remember.  But I could think about the others- whose pending marriages or long-lasting unions made me question what I was doing wrong and what they were doing right.

When you’re younger and girls all around you are dropping off like flies, that is, are finding themselves in relationships with members of the opposite sex, you can shrug it off and think: my turn will come. Or, if you are really mean-spirited, you think: “let’s see how long that relationship’s going to last”.  But then you get a older and other girls continue to prosper while you wilt. They start getting married to decent men and you’re left thinking: WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING WRONG?!

And mind you, you’re not just thinking this because you’re a jealous spiteful hag who can’t stand others having found their Mr. Right or several Mr. Rights while you are patiently waiting for yours to pop along. No. You get frustrated because many of these girls are all sorts of wrong yet that doesn’t seem to stop them from capturing men who are all sorts of right.

And, of course…Leah feels the need to send you an invite to her wedding and you have to fight the urge to R.S.V.P with a little note on what she could do with her invite.

*Not real name.

Love Pursuit is now updated monthly