As I sat in my hair dresser’s chair today getting my hair done for the wedding (a total of 57 bobby pins were shoved into my scalp), I began to think over my life the past few years. Mainly, that of my “single life.”

While I will be the first to admit that dating is a huge drag when you haven’t yet found “the one,” you do learn a lot of important life lessons from the people you date and the situations you come across. Unfortunately, these important lessons usually stem from – what else – unfortunate situations and people. Let me give you a few examples:

 

1.       Applebee’s and death are not a good mix: What I learned when I was going out with Peter – other than not to give my heart away so easily – is that when a guy tries to break up with you at Applebee’s while your aunt is in the hospital dying, and your eyes are so swollen it hurts to blink, he’s just not the right person for you. I learned to take a step back from situations that just don’t make sense – on purpose! – and just say, “whatever.”  Oh yes, and when my aunt died later that night, he later compared her passing away to that of his sister’s cat who had been put to sleep. Even now, I have to think: “What they hey?!”  

2.       Madison and kisses…eh, scarves: I was making my first “jump” into the dating scene when a guy I liked, Mike, invited me to visit him in Madison. When I finally got there, we spent the whole night taking a tour around UW-Madison’s campus, and visiting cozy coffee shops and restaurants. The whole night I kept wondering (hoping, praying!) that he would be the one to give me my first kiss. When he finally dropped me off at my sister’s boyfriend’s apartment, I casually leaned against the wall, tilted by head and waited for his lips to find mine. His response? “Can I have my scarf back?” I sighed, slipped his forgotten scarf off from around my neck, and waited four more years to receive my first kiss.

3.       Movies and garbage bins: One of my very, very, very first dates was with Tim. He asked me out to the movies with a bunch of his friends (who all happened to be girls, alarm number one). As we walked into the darkened theater, he was so nervous with me being there that he almost fell head first into a garbage bin (you know, the kind you put your empty popcorn bucket in?). Even now, I have no idea how that happened. This taught me that, even though you may plan and plan for things to go a certain way, they usually don’t. And you know what? That’s fine, because most of the time they just turn out to be so damn funny!

 

Added all together, my days of being single have taught me that yes, your heart will be broken. You will find out that people are less than what you thought they were, and can disappointment you and let you down in ways that are unfathomable. But you know what else? When you find that love – and you will find that love – it makes everything so damn worth it.

Let’s hear it for love, sweet love.

The next time you hear from me, I will be Mrs. Amy Elizabeth Taylor. Woah! Take that dumb boys!

-Amy

Music playing while writing this: “Matches” by Jeanna Salzer