We've known this was coming for a long time. Not even figuratively — this whole Jennifer Aniston-Justin Theroux marriage thing has been on the table for ages. (And it could be on the table for even longer, if reports that the wedding has been put on hold are true. But I'll believe it when I see Angelina and Brad do it first.) It's just that Jen and I — Jen and all of us — have been through a lot together. We loved her when she rocked the Rachel 'do on Friends. We loved her when she was married to Brad Pitt. And we cried for her when that marriage came to a stunning halt.
And we shook our fists at Angelina Jolie (sorry, all Team Aniston here) and defended the actress against tabloids that called her sad and lonely for daring to stay single after a terrible divorce. (What's that? You got right back into the dating game after your break-up, without ice cream or sad movies? Lucky you.)
The point is that we've supported Aniston a long time. We've watched her grow. We've watched her hair color stay exactly the same. And we've watched her in every romantic comedy of the last 10 years. We've laughed, loved, and admired her serious ability to rock short dresses past the age of 30. But truthfully? It's weird thinking about her getting married again.
She's survived some crazy image changes (let's forget those Adam Duritz and John Mayer phases), but the most lasting has been that of the perennial sexy bachelorette, she of the honey-colored hair and unclear relationship status. As die-hard Aniston fans, of course we want what makes her happy, but, strangely, the shift will take some getting used to. We'll need time to mentally adjust from groaning about Brangelina to loving Jeniffustin (Justifer? Anisroux? Theraniston? This isn't working).
Because, after we've had all this time to bond with Aniston, it feels like we're giving her away — like when your best friend gets engaged and in the first second after she tells you, you can't help but grimace. It's not that you aren't pleased for her, it's just that now you might lose that just-the-two-of-us connection. That's a hard loss to face. Aniston has always been our popcorn-and-movies-on-a-weeknight kind of celebrity, and though it's great (no, really!) that she's found the right guy, it will be hard to let go of her as one of us, the unlucky-in love or still-haven't-found-him-yet girls. She was a chic beacon of hope in a celebrity marriage-filled world, but you know what? Whatever makes her happy makes us happy too. Sob.
Justin seems, from extensive tabloid perusal, to be a good guy. He and Aniston have been together a while and I like his leather jackets, which is a good sign. So we'll have to get up and over it — Jennifer is going to get married again and gosh darn it, we are going to be excited for her.
