I don't recall making a list or acknowledging how everything about my life would change. I was looking forward to the wedding. I was looking forward to being married to my Mikey. I was looking forward to the grand adventure we were about to start together. I was in love and I was happy. I went off to slumberland without giving too much credence to second thoughts!
The truth is there were many things I had never done and now might not ever do, like like travel by myself, or have my own apartment, or do the "singles scene", or be on my own, or have a career! I wasn't very concerned about it at that time. It was only several years later that I had thoughts about what alternatives had existed and how my life would be so different if I hadn't chosen to get married at 19.
1966 was just about the end of the time when most girls only aspired to be wives and mothers. There were a few women out there who were preparing for careers, but I wasn't one of them. I was taking the traditional route....marriage and family. (Funnily enough, I turned out to be among the first of the working moms, but that's a story for another day.)
Today in 2011, I am aware that I have been married two and a quarter times longer than I was single. It's kind of difficult to even remember some of those single years. It feels like I have always been married to the Big Guy. We had a lot of fun things and like everyone, some sadness. We were blessed with our precious and wonderful daughter, and much later her precious and wonderful daughter. What greater prize could life have given us??
But back then, this night 45 years ago was my very last as a single woman. By the next afternoon, I would become a wife! And 45 years later I still am!
What a sweet story! You didn't really miss a whole lot because you found LOVE early - it took me a long time to find what you found at a young age. You are fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI did it the opposite way - I traveled alone, met people, had loads of fun, built my career, bought my own house, moved my mom in with me, I met my husband at the age of 42, fell in love, lost my job, got married, moved my mom in with my MIL and new husband, sold my house, my mom lost her mind and I became a Care Giver. No kids but our moms make it feel like we have children.
It's been a wild ride the last 3 years; on April 11 we celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary and I feel like I've been with Brian forever.
Congrats on being married 45 years!!
ReplyDeleteYou and I must be two of the luckiest people anywhere! I was also 19 when I married, and I certainly didn't know what I was doing! I have often looked back on that event and I've known that God definitely had His hand in guiding me to a man who would grow up with me and hopefully grow old with me. You've brought back some wonderful memories for me with this post. laurie
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