What's a girl to do?

I really don’t mind being single. Ok, sometimes I do, but it seems to me that sometimes, many times, my single state bothers those around me more than it bothers me. Christians, especially those to whom I am related, seem to be in such a muddle about what to do with Christian singles, especially with the ladies, like my sister and me.

We went to a cousin’s wedding this weekend. What a joy to celebrate the couple’s covenant of marriage. And we got to catch up with family who we might get to see but once a year. My aunt’s first words, once she was done rushing around and joined our table at the reception, were “Girls, I have someone you need to meet. He could work for either one.” Here we are supposed to act bashful, yet inquisitive, I guess. I’m still figuring out a proper response for such conversations as they become more and more common. Apparently, my knee-jerk reaction comments are not appropriate (I am learning to control them). And I have to admit to a bit of curiosity at the mention of an eligible young man. Heh. Ok, let the games begin.

“On what grounds was he recommended?”

My sister inquired, “Is he Mexican and does his name start with an E? If so, Erin can have him.” (She’s not racist, she’s just had two strikes against those qualifications.)

My aunt, puzzled, “He is from Mexico so you have Spanish in common. I don’t remember his name. It’s kind of complicated.”

My sister-in-law stood up for me, “Why should Erin be left with Sarah’s cast-offs?”

My aunt, trying to help her cause, “Oh, we considered him for your cousin, but there was no interest on either side.”

Mom: “In Chile they would say there’s no “feeling”.

Me: “So he’s twice cast-off. Is he good-looking, at least?”

My brother: “I thought so.” We all whirled toward him.

Sister-in-law: “How would you know?”

My brother: “I met him earlier. We spoke Spanish.”

The conversation degraded from there, though my mom and aunt were sure to point him out the rest of the afternoon. Thankfully, neither insisted on taking us over to meet him. However, it felt just like a scene out of Pride and Prejudice where the mums are pointing out the good qualities to the daughters as the eligible bachelors walk by.

This was when my sister’s brilliance came through to save us. “There is no reason to keep pointing him out to us unless you intend for us to approach him. You’ve taught us to be righteous women who don’t chase after boys and now you urge us to initiate something with a stranger?”

“Well, no.”

“Well, telling us about someone is pretty useless. If you think we’d make a good match, tell him. Why should we get our hopes up if he’s not even shown enough interest to come over and introduce himself?”

In the end, I did meet him without my family's help. We exchanged a few words in Spanish about the silly dancing and that was it.

Apparently, there was no “feeling”.