Gray Hairs, Odds and me

Well, it's been awhile. Shocking, I know. But really, it's all for you, the reader of this blog. Because I don't want to post something that sucks. Hopefully this doesn't suck. :)

So my title for this entry is not just a clever name... Let's start with gray hairs. What's up with that? I've long enjoyed my days of pigmented hairs on my head. It was around my 29th birthday when I first noticed a gray hair. I was having a hard enough time dealing with approaching the dead end I envisioned 30 would be, so I promptly yanked it out without looking back. It's been a couple of years since then... And I prided my fully pigmented locks. Several weeks ago (with a youthful 'do of pig-tailed french braids no less), a friend of mine spotted a strand of hair that was white like the surf on the sea... Glaring out at the world from amidst my dark locks. In a moment of panic, I requested the necessary assistance to remove it. Again, it was yanked out. But wait. This is NOT the end. Just this last week... I was on my way to work and as I glanced in the rearview mirror... I noticed a kind of light colored hair staring at me. Sticking staright up from the crown of my head. It was shorter than the rest. And it was making itself known to me. Maybe marking its territory, I don't know. But it did a killer impersonation of Alfalfa. Seriously. Though, of course being one strand, it was more like Alfalfa Light. So... As ornery as it was... I stared it in the face (er... follicle?), and have accepted it into my life. I can't always see it, but I know it's there. Ready and willing to add character to the hairs on my head. I've since discovered another one hiding in among the hairs along my one temple. It's more subtle. But it, too has been allowed to stay. At present, they're not wreaking havoc. So they've been allowed to remain as they are.

Nextly we have the odds. Now most of you should know that I am Mormon aka LDS aka member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a very family oriented religion. And as most people and especially as most Mormons, I would someday love to have a family of my own. Now, in recent years the numbers of single adult Mormons has continued to grow. So I was quite shocked to read my odds as calculated circa 1981.

I found myself reading about Single Adults in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Apparently there was a study done in 1981 (by I think Goodman and Heaton) on LDS single adults. A few of the facts that they determined were somewhat disturbing, yet quite explanatory as to my current situation [lack of love life]. Now, apparently, this study has determined that the odds for an active LDS woman over age 30 to marry an active LDS man over age 30 is quite an impossibility. Why? Well, for every 100 active LDS women (attends church regularly) over the age of 30, there are only 19 active LDS men. That's right. Pathetic. And this study was done in 1981! What of it NOW??? It would seem to me that the number of amazing, accomplished, active LDS women as multiplied exceedingly! I personally know at least a dozen! Not all are necessarily over 30, of course but many are nigh unto the taboo age of which I speak.

Surprisingly, I have not allowed myself to freak out about this information, as alarming as it sounds, I'm OK. :) I knew you were worried, see. As I've mentioned previously in blogs past, deep down there is still an undying hope for things to come. Hope that the righteous desires of my heart will at last be fulfilled. To quote an old favorite jazz standard, "someday he'll come along... the man I love..."