The Singleness of ME

Today there are (at least) three couples I know who will be walking an aisle somewhere, perhaps in a church or the great outdoors-God's natural cathedrals- to exchange vows, promise love till death, slip on some rings they'll be paying off for the next five years or so, and say "I do".
I will be perched safe and secure in my singleness on a bench at one of these weddings JUST waiting for someone to nudge me and say, "So...when's it YOUR turn?" To which I may just reply, "When I get pregnant!" Then again, I can't shame my mother like that. So, a smile will play across my face and instead a cliche remark such as When God wills it or Gotta find a guy first! will pour out as sweet as southern iced tea, followed of course by mock laughter.
Has anyone ever really wondered or considered what exactly they are saying "I do" to? Oh! They say that they are fully aware, thanks to all the studies and guidance! They know the responsibilities ahead and the task of laying aside their own selfish desires for the good of another. They say..., but what they are saying "I do" to is not the life they are picturing the moment she enters the aisle while he catches his breath. No.
For you see, even the most beloved of all fairytales has the evil individual plotting to destroy you, the poisonous apples to avoid, the wee folk who crowd at your feet and clamour for you attention, and a possible coma before you read the words "And they lived happily ever after..." with a grandly titled THE END shortly thereafter. If animated movies could be remade, it would be the wisest of choices to simply say, And they lived. This is the "I do" to which you surrender. To live...as one.
As those words escape your mouth, the life you lived up to this point becomes nothing more than a memory and a picture book. You can no longer think as one individual, act as one individual, or even shop as one individual. Now...your every consideration, thought, syntax structure must take into account that your's is not the only heart beating.

I do-such a small sentence that holds such great responsibility that I fear so many people engage with only to avoid the Divine blessing of singleness.

The most hazardous occupation of human life is to Love.