a unique flower

Standing around with a group of friends and acquaintances outside work a little while ago, chatting about anything and nothing. The talk turned to love lives and dating and current status...when it got to my turn, I just quietly shrugged. One friend gave me a small hug and said, "Hey, think of this: you'll have an easier time finding someone like *him* than he will finding someone like *you*." Then others chimed in...words and phrases like "unique", "definitely one-of-a-kind", "unusual", "rare", "special", "hard to categorize". I added "freak", "weirdo", and "mutant" to the mix, which set off another round.

It was embarrassing, flattering, sweet, and not a little uncomfortable...and I thank each one of them for it.