Happy Anniversary

As someone who was married at 23 (and who heard BOTH "You're too young." and "Why'd you wait so long?"), I was pretty interested to read this article.

Now while a fair bit of what she writes doesn't apply to me at all (Certainly none of my friends were ever roped into playing "air-traffic controller ... to keep boys from colliding in the hallway outside my room".) I find it really interesting to see things from an "outside" perspective.

To me, getting married at 23 was the most natural thing in the world. We dated 2.5 years before getting engaged. Were engaged for 1.5 years before saying "I do". No one could claim that we "didn't know each other". And, having always been mature for my age in areas like dependability and responsibility, the whole "lifelong commitment" thing just wasn't as terrifying as many of peers tried to make it sound.

But natural or not, it is...odd. Getting engaged was my first brush with life experiences that don't move in lock step by age group. School is done by age, and all my close friends went to college. So that sparkly rock was a little period. A punctuation mark in my life story. My "single life" (such as I had had) ending. My "married life" beginning. It was my first step onto my own unique path, away from the comfort of my friend's advice and support. I was officially in uncharted territory.

There are plenty of other life experiences that sort and resort, group and regroup people, reshuffling the deck of potential friends--starting work (where co-workers are often a grab bag of ages and experiences), having kids, even taking a class to learn a new skill.

And with everyone of those choices, comes a whole new world of what-ifs. I can say without a doubt that I would not be the same person I am today if I had not met and married my husband. Who else I would have been, I don't know. Maybe I would have dropped out of my engineering curricula and become a communications major (a possibility I once seriously pondered). Maybe I would have married an artist instead and Etsy would be a full time, couple-run gig. Maybe I would have met someone who was a fitness nut and would be training for marathons. Maybe I would have even fallen for a (gasp) dog lover and be a proud puppy mommy.

Regardless, with next month marking a year and a half of marriage and 5 and a half years together, I have to say that none of those what-ifs hold nearly as much enchantment for me as my what-is--a loving and supportive husband, a great job, two adorable kittens ferocious hunters, a cute house, and a little shop on Etsy. So instead of arguing about who should or shouldn't marry whom when, I think I'll just say "Happy Anniversary!" to those who are marking milestones and "Good Luck!" to those who are starting out. If you listen to your heart, you'll know.