Mad about Saffron: Feeling a bit Bridget Jones

Aug 19 2008 Mad about Saffron: Feeling a bit Bridget Jones

This week I am going to see a schoolfriend of mine get married. She is only the second of my peers to tiethe knot - the first, Louise, was aged only 21 and has now given birth to two children.

Since she was so young when she exchanged rings, she is considered to be rather out of the ordinary, so her wedded state has not worried me - until recently.

Now that my school friends have all turned 27, my married friend is no longer the anomaly, but a trend setter, the first in a long line of my mates who are lining up to walk down the aisle.

And next year, anotherschool friend, Clara, is tying the knot, as well as a university friend, Poppy, who is nearly three years younger than I.

Some ofyou might imagine that this has put the wind up me a little. My single friends are dropping off the twig like over ripe pears, plummeting to earth to shatter in a shower of juice and seeds.

But I haverefused to let it get me down. After all, all these friends are female,and everyone knows that women are more likely to get married earlierthan men.

So I have taken heart at the single state of my male friends. Several of them don't even have girlfriends, and the ones that do certainly aren't planning on marriage any time soon.

However,I got the news last week that my latest ex-boyfriend, with whom I brokeup with nearly three years ago - is now engaged.

He is a year and a half younger than me, so it did make me stop and think.

Hisbetrothal means that out of the three serious boyfriends I have had,all three are engaged. The two others, including my childhoodsweetheart, have even gone so far as to buy houses with their fiancmes- a move universally acknowledged to be as much of a financial andlegal commitment as getting married.

All this has made me take a step back and look at my single friends. How many do I have left?

Ofcourse there's Kat, my reliably single housemate. I have one schoolfriend who remains single - although she yo-yos between boyfriends andsingledom every few months.

And one of my best buddies from uni, Dave, remains a bachelor.
That's it

ShouldI be worried? I am happy with my life, of course...but as theseweddings increase, will I start to feel more like a Bridget Jonescharacter?

I have decided that I am the only one in control ofhow I feel. And I have decided NOT to feel like that - and to carry onenjoying being single for as long as it lasts (even if it is for therest of my life).