Two Different Ideas About Marriage

I remember an evening about three years ago when my sister, Andrea, and I were driving in the car with my two nieces, K'Lynn and Kandace. We were quietly sitting the front seat talking about having children when K'Lynn, who was only six, reminded me that I couldn't have kids because I wasn't married. I told her that she was correct. After a brief moment of silence she asked, "How old are you anyway?" I told her that I was a year older than her dad, to which she replied in absolute horror, "You're freakin' 32 years old and you don't have a husband?" I think she'd pass out if she realized that now I was freakin' 35 years old and still don't have one.

My niece, Audrey, is four, although she thinks she's 14. She and I have had several conversations the last couple of days. She sings me songs and tells me what she's doing in her busy life. My sister, Andrea, asked her on the phone the other night if she thought they needed to find me someone to marry. Audrey told her that she didn't think it would be a good idea because then I would "have a wife and I couldn't be her aunt anymore". Andrea reminded her that she was married and was still her aunt, to which Audrey replied, "Yeah, but it's just different."

I suppose she's right. When I'm with them, I don't worry about anyone else. They are the center of my attention. My concerns are not about a husband or my own kids, and I can spend my time doing whatever they'd like me to do. Who would want that to change? Seriously?

In Audrey's eyes, she's much better off if I am without a spouse and children. K'Lynn, being wiser at the age of six, realized how quickly my biological clock was ticking and that I'd better get a move on.