Love is like a pair of socks

Bear with me on this one. I had an epiphany while folding laundry. Please disregard the fact that I am on painkillers....

Have you ever noticed that love is like a pair of socks? I marvelled at how happy I get each time I match a pair of socks while folding the laundry. A feeling of satisfaction - not at a job well-done, but at helping one find its mate. Then I realized that real life love can be just like the socks we wear.

Think about the sock who is without its mate for as long as you can remember. I mean, you KNOW you bought the whole pair, but you haven't seen the stray in ages. Yet, somehow, this sock shows up in your laundry every week. You have checked the drawer to see if its mate is there. It isn't. So you save this sock until the laundry is entirely finished. All washed, dried, folded and even put away. Except for this sock. It is one of your favorites. Fits your foot just right. Doesn't get eaten by your shoes. But it has no partner.

Since you love the sock so much, you want to keep wearing it, but obviously it has to be worn with another sock. It would be silly to just go out with one sock off and one sock on. That would be like My Son John...or were those shoes....?(http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/mothergoose/rhymes/diddlediddledumplingmysonjohn.html)

Of course you have other socks without mates. You have the ones that fit your feet very nicely and also don't get eaten by your shoes, but look quite different from this one. And you have the ones that very closely resemble this one, were probably even part of the same package when you bought them. So you do what any reasonable person would: you match this sock up with one that very closely resembles it.

Chances are no one else will ever notice. They both fit your feet well. In fact, you rather like the way your feet look with these socks on them. Your shoes are agreeable to this slightly mismatched pair. Best yet, the part around the ankles is identical, so what the public sees is a perfectly matched pair of socks taking care of your happy feet inside your happy shoes.

But inside, you know the truth. You can't see it. You can't feel it. But you know that these socks are not meant to be together. You know that your favorite sock has stripes on the sole. Its partner has no stripes. There is nothing wrong with no stripes. No stripes are just fine. You feel quite satisfied that there are no stripes and you keep matching this pair together week after week after week. They go together quite well. But not perfectly.

Every week while folding the laundry you keep your eyes peeled for that other striped sock. You don't really know why...I mean, chances are that it is never to be seen again. And you get along just fine the way things are. People tell you, "Hey, nice socks!" and you thank them, smiling happily because you ARE happy. You have comfortable socks that protect your feet nicely and make your toes appear to be shaped just right when you bend them just so. Sometimes you even pretend you are a foot model with an important photo shoot for socks. You admire your feet from many angles.

If only the socks matched exactly. You will never get a sock modeling gig with this mismatched pair!

One day you get ready to head out for a run. You reach into your sock basket and pull out a bundled wadded up pair of socks. Opening them you smile as you see your striped sock. Wait. Striped sock? You wore your striped sock just two days ago. You remember because you were modeling it while watching "America's Next Top Model" and thinking about how they should have an episode dedicated to foot modeling and how you should be featured in it - just for that one episode of course - and how you can be the foot modeling example: you and your striped sock foot. You dash over to the dirty clothes hamper and dig around. And dig around. Gads, it was just two days ago, they should be here close to the top. You start to throw clothes out of the hamper, shaking each article to ensure that no socks are clinging.

There. At the very bottom of the hamper. There it is. A striped-sole sock.

You raise it up, holding it carefully with both hands. Must. Not. Let It. Get Away. You walk to the recently unbundled pair. Yes. The original striped-sole sock is still there. You have TWO. You hold them side-by-side to really compare: striped soles? Check. Low ankle? Check. Adidas logo? check. You found the true match!

Elated, you dance with them in your hands, holding them close to your chest so they can feel your heart pounding with excitement. United! Once and for all. You swear they will never have to part from one another.

And yet....the socks left behind. You feel sorry for them. They are good socks. They served everyone well. Your feelings for them have not changed. Your life would not have been the same without them. Mismatched or not, you have happy memories that will never die. Now these socks can be on a quest for their true sole-mate.