A Dying Breed?

This weekend I was confronted by a harsh reality, not a new one, but a harsh one nonetheless: singleness. I do not know when it happened but somewhere along the road I seemed to have missed the boat. It seems that most people my age are either married, serious, or long term relationships (or getting out of them). This fact was hit home when I went to a movie alone and was surrounded by the couples. When did we get to this point? And how did I seem to miss the relationship boat?

Some of my friends blame my "high standards" for my current singleness, which roughly translates to my daydreams of a Prince Charming saving me... walking in and being strong, etc, etc, etc.

But, how did I miss the fact that at this point in my life there is supposed to be some semblance of a serious relationship

I mean, I have noticed and put on the obligatory smile when I hear about another friend entering into a relationship. Continued to smile and show excitement when I hear that they are engaged. But each time I am left wondering why. Are we really at the age to be getting married and having children? I mean, we are only in our mid twenties.

All that I have realized, but this weekend I also came to realize that many of my friends, although not on the "marriage tract" are still in serious relationships -- relationships going on into years, cohabitating, etc.

And then out of what seemed like nowhere I heard that one of my friends was talking to her boyfriend about kids. Mind you both are medical students. Maybe not this year or next, but talking about having or adopting kids. When my roommate acted surprised at hearing this bit of news this friend's comment was that she was a year older than E. That freaked me out a little, cause this friend and I are the same age.

This past weekend I met up with one of those friends that has a serious long term, non-marriage tract relationship. Even this friend thought it was weird that people were getting married... and was even more disturbed by the fact that some of our classmates from high school have children.

I am glad that some people have made it to that stage in their lives, but I feel like my life is many years behind. I cannot even begin to image being ready to be married, let alone having kids. The only thing that I can closely imagine is a relationship.

Which leads to the question, when did being single in your mid-twenties make you a dying breed? And if we are a dying breed when does our Prince Charming come along? Cause surely something has to happen at some point, right?