now there's one.

In the Summer of 2006, there were three. Paul had finished 1 year of Law school -- he was 22. Barry had finished 1 year of College -- he was 19. I had finished high school -- I was 16. Early that summer, we were all single. There were three.

Then Petra happened. The Houmanns stopped by on their way up to PEI, and Paul was irretrievably swept into the realm of twoness. I left for Peru that summer, wondering if Barry would start dating, and when Paul was going to propose to Petra. Unbeknownst to me (I was one of the last people to find out) Paul had made a preemptive strike -- being the good general that he always was and is -- and had already done the job.

I came back from Peru about 3 weeks earlier than scheduled to attend Paul and Petra's wedding. It was hard to adjust to Paul's sudden departure from the bachelor bloc. Thankfully, despite Barry's metoric rise to power at Southern, he had escaped the twodom paradox. I roomed with Barry for my first two years at Southern.

Barry graduated in Spring of '09 -- arguably one of the most eligible bachelors on the campus. Both of us had had some tough experiences with girls over the past semester, and we emerged into the summer tired, lonely, and somewhat bitterly free. Our summer wandered away, until the moment when Barry and I had an incredible day sailing our 22-ft boat from Whaleboat island back to its harbor in Quahog Bay. It was us -- we'd shared so much over the past two years -- rough bachelors both we were. There were two.

Interestingly enough, Barry wrote a blog soon thereafter. I'm not exactly sure what the blog meant, but it meant something, because Barry began officially dating Christy Kurtz before flying off to Kyrgyzstan. Like most things in his life, Barry found a good thing, and pursued it with considerable intensity. Yep. Intensity. I'm very happy to say that Barry and Christy are now engaged.

Now there's one. I'm alone.

I think Barry and Christy felt sorry for me over Christmas break: they tried to encourage me by telling me that someday I would find a virtuous wife. I really appreciated it... I might have even made some evasive commentary like "Well, I hope so..." or "Well, maybe"...

But I'm still in the grumpy badger mode. I've been stumping about my room in my PJs beating my chest while singing Bill Grogans Goat. I eat my granola in great gulps of cheer, spoon clenched tight in flourished fist. I'm obsessed with the idea of hiking across asia after medical school. Or sailing around the world. Sometimes I feel free, savage, focused. But who am I kidding?

God knows. And I know.

But now there's someone special in my life: God. That's all I'll ever need.

I'm taken. Now, there's one.