CoupleWorld

I'm days away from "being in my forties" and you want to know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of not going with anybody. I was at an outdoor dinner party the other night when my friend's neighbor walked up to say hi. It went something like this:

neighbor: just wanted to stop over and say hi.
friend: hey neighbor, you remember Becki.
neighbor: sure, hi Becki. with Jim, right?
friend: and Sharon.
neighbor: now who do you go with?
sharon: (pointing) him, my husband Bill.
friend: and this is Jennifer.
neighbor: (looks around, no more boys) silence.

Don't get me wrong. I was really happy to be there. It's an annual tradition that I very much look forward to and treasure. One thing married folk probably don't notice is that if you're not "The Johnsons" or "The Smiths" you rarely get invited to stuff like that. Dinner parties of three, five or seven don't happen much. If you are part of a couple then you get to go out with couples, have drinks with couples, bar-b-que with couples. Couples do that. Couples couple. The Smiths rarely invite The Jennifer over for the evening. It's nobody's fault. It just is.

I have a mental list of people I would be friends with if I were a we. I have one imaginary tradition in my mind of the couple we'd go to the Civic Theater with (we would all have season tickets). I know what meal I would make if ? and I had The Johnsons over. I actually have a bottle of wine I will open some day when The Smiths drop by for an evening of board games. I even listen to the podcast called "The Dinner Party Download" faithfully so I'll be ready. Unfortunately, The Jones don't invite The Jennifer on vacation to Cancun. They just don't :(

I have fantastic friends, both married and unmarried. I have awesome traditions and adventures and evenings out and vacations. I'm very lucky to be loved by so many interesting and hilarious people. I just want to be loved by one more. The one man who holds the key to CoupleWorld.

My dream evening would go something like this: Making reservations for four (not sure why, I've never gone anywhere that required a reservation in my life!). Being dropped off at the door because it's raining (romantic evenings always include some rain). Having a coffee with Irish Cream for dessert even though I had a few glasses of wine with dinner (my dream relies on my husband being the designated driver for some reason even though I rarely drink at all). Chatting about the highlights of the evening on the way home (laugh and sigh). Sharing the sink while we brush our teeth. Then spooning. Is that too much to ask?