all in. it used to be that life changing statements would begin with "i got a..." and end with "...nintendo." celebrations and congratulations would ensue, and then a summer of fun would be had. nowadays, life changing statements span the range from happy (got a job, got into a school, secured unemployment) to the not so happy (we broke up, someone passed away, i'm moving). so where, in this announcement spectrum, does the phrase "i'm getting married," fall?

clearly in the happy right? your friend, your buddy, your pal, is getting married, hitched, chained. nobody can be one hundred percent unhappy about a marriage announcement. even if you don't think it's the greatest idea in the world, you hope it works out for the best. marriages have that kind of power. sure, marriage is probably akin to clliff jumping, but somehow you can always hope for the best. impending nuptials is happy news.

on the other hand, engagements mean you're close to losing another single friend. and to some of us, that's hard. another friend who has to turn in early at night. another friend who always has the ultimate excuse to back out of things. another friend who has moved on with their lives. another friend who is gone. am i melodrama? perhaps. but it's been documented, and documented well, that once people get married, they've got other things on their minds. like you know, marriage. and each other.

it's not as bad as i might make it out to seem. i actually don't know that many married couples, and of the few that i know, just about all of them are the same as before. the switch from being in a serious relationship to being married isn't all that different. lots of people are married, and they're just as fun as ever, if not more fun.

so why rue the day that your single friends leave you? well, it's one less soldier in the trench, it's one more person taking that big step, and that step might be a step away from you. but really, it's okay, because their joy supercedes any feelings you might have about it. and that's the beauty of it all, marriage conquers everything.

in totally unrelated news, as everyone probably knows by now, gene and connie are both on the glorious path to marriage. congrats. now, about that nintendo...