Having recently survived a bout with food poisoning (recently, as in yesterday), I am reminded once again of something I'm missing out on from not yet being married. I find myself longing for one of the less glamorous aspects of being happily settled down: having someone in your life legally obligated to wake up at 2:00 in the morning and reassure you that you're not going to die (probably) from eating raw cookie dough.
Sometimes one of the hardest things about being single is . . . being single. Being on my own. Facing the world alone. Handling life's inconveniences and mild tragedies by myself. Stepping carefully (and barefoot) around broken glass to retrieve the vacuum cleaner myself, rather than holler for assistance. Getting out of bed myself (cell phone in hand) to investigate strange noises in the middle of the night.
And calculating my chances of survival against the forces of probable salmonella.
Such moments were made for in-sickness-and-in-health partnerships. Lacking one of those, I have to turn to my next closest option: Mom. She took my 6:00 a.m. phone call (I decided to let her sleep in a bit) and gave me the reassurance I was needing. Besides being a constant source of good advice, Mom provided that human contact I needed.
I think that's why God gave us two of a lot of things. Two arms, two legs, two feet. A pair of hands, a set of matching fingers, a couple of ears. Even two nostrils. I think His plan was to give us a constant, a means of comparing, a standard by which to judge. Got a weird bump on your thumb you've never noticed? It could freak you out a little until you notice that you have the exact same bump on your other thumb.
And a for-better-or-for-worse partner can serve the same purpose. "Are you worried about that weird noise downstairs?" "No. Go back to sleep." "Does the cat look like it's walking funny?" "Maybe. If he's still doing it tomorrow, we'll call the vet." Sometimes a second opinion is all you need to let something go or to stop worrying.
So until Mr./Ms. Right comes along, singletons have to find their own constant, their own power of two. Other single friends are awesome for this! We form our own partnerships for taking the car to the repair shop, getting a second opinion on that weird basement smell that might be a natural gas leak, driving each other to and from the doctor's office or hospital.
In a sweet example from Grey's Anatomy, Cristina and Meredith formed one such "power of two" partnership. They called it being each other's "person," after Cristina designated Meredith as her emergency contact person on a medical form. (Watch the scene here.)
But if you're fresh out of "dark and twisty" medical interns, you may be looking for someone with which to form a "power of two."
May I suggest Mom?
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