The Invitation
So, I met up with a friend today that I haven’t hung out with in a SUPER long time.
Well, let me take that back… we’ve hung out, but not like our usual eating adventures. As per usual, we went to find some Mexican food and hit up this spot in Aiea. Pretty quaint, good horchata… everything you would expect in a good Mexican restaurant.
Anyway, we got to talking and we were catching up on our lives. We’re both pretty busy people and it’s rare we get this opportunity nowadays.
Well, the first topic was to naturally gravitate to the business of her planning her wedding. Then, that’s when she hit me off with… the invitation.
Now, the reason why this was so shocking in the first place is that I’ve known her and her fiancee for the longest time, from the first time they started going to church, in fact.. Both are pretty active members in the church, so I got to see them around quite frequently.
But, the invitation definitely came with a reaction. Not a reaction of surprise, because if you know them, you KNEW that marriage was an eventuality with them. No, it was more of a reaction to my own maturity level.
You see, this is actually the first wedding that I’ve been invited to that I know all the principle parties involved.
I’ve been invited to weddings before, don’t get me wrong. But, it has always been because I knew someone in the wedding party (like the best man or something) or because I went along because I wanted free food and Mom didn’t want to go alone.
This time… I know the bride and the groom. And that freaked me out a little.
This is what your parents and your older friends have talked about for years now: at a certain point in life, things just ACCELERATE. You grow up, you get married, you blink… then you notice you have two teenagers and a mortgage to pay.
Seeing my friends finally walk down the aisle will be that moment for me… the moment things speed up. It’ll probably be the moment that I realize… when am I gonna do this walk myself?
The bride and groom are not that much older than me. In fact, I think they graduated a year before I did. But, the fact that they’re getting married and I’m still trying to figure that part of my life out is quite intriguing. I wonder how much longer will this take before I even need to start entertaining the thought of finding a wedding coordinator and arguing about seating arrangements.
Hopefully it’s not too soon or too far. In God’s timing.
But it did get me to thinking about growing older. My highly effective, single years might be drawing to a close soon, so I need to make as many moves, do as many shows, make as much of an impact as possible before moving on to the next phase of life. I’m serious when I say that I’m going to miss being single.
I know that’s counter to what the world would say, but I feel like God blessed me with this time to myself to make the world a better place. Make moves, be a productive member of society before assuming the role of boyfriend, fiancee, husband, and father. The relationship will come eventually. I just need to make sure that I’m doing all I can with my own time right now.
The time is growing short and I need to start making a bigger impact in the lives of others.
But, before we get to the sharp realization… I still have four months to prepare for that moment. Hopefully, I’ll be well on my way to making that bigger impact.
So, to the future Mr. and Mrs. Yamashiro, you can put me down for that seat at the reception. I’ll have a seat to myself, but I’ll be praying for the +1.
