"For many people, regardless of sexual orientation, a wedding is no longer the first step into adulthood that it once was, but, often, the last. It is a celebration of all that two people have already done, unlike a traditional wedding, which was a celebration of what a couple would do in the future.
Consistent with this shift in meaning, different-sex couples, like the many of the same-sex couples who have married recently, are starting their marriages later in their lives. According to the Census Bureau, the median age at first marriage—the age at which half of all marriages occur—was 27.4 for women and 29.5 for men in 2017. That’s higher than at any time since the Census began keeping records in 1890."
I agree people are getting married at an older, and hopefully, more mature age. However, I eloped on my 18th birthday mainly to escape a mentally and physically abusive childhood and landed, anyway, in a verbally abusive relationship. Needless to say, it didn't last.
I was married at 17, my wife was 19. I was in high school, she was already graduated, We met at my job (gas station attendant, I'm dating myself) and started dating. She was the first woman I had sex with and it was great! At the time, I thought if you had sex, you got married, and I really wasn't digging living at home, even though I had another year of school to go. She missed a period, so we used that as an excuse to talk my parents into letting the marriage happen the summer before my senior year. She got her period the night before the wedding, but we didn't tell anyone. We stayed married, with a lot of issues, for eight years. I developed a much different view of marriage and sex as I aged.
I was 27 when I married the first time. My ex was 25. We had 3 daughters and lasted 18 years. The thing was, I still loved him when we divorced. There just was no way we could be together without hurting each other. There was so much stuff that had calcified between us and it took the divorce - with its physical and more importantly emotional separation - to dissolve it. After the divorce was finalized, we started being able to be kinder to each other and we co-parent well together now.
@VictoriaNotes You are welcome. I don't have bad feelings towards marriage, but it does tend to complicate things for some reason. Like you can give your friends a lot more grace than the person you live with 24/7. I think people do better with space between them.
I was married two more times myself. After some time to let the bitterness lose its bite, I became friends with both. My second wife and I had a son and we were married 22 years, We decided to bury the hatchet when our son's wife became pregnant with our first grandchild and remained friends until she died of cancer about a year ago. My third wife was from Slovakia (not a bought bride! ?) and had a one year old son that I fell in love with as much as I did with her. I knew we had issues, but thought we could work them out to keep the boy growing up here in the US. It didn't work, but we stuck it out long enough for them to get their permanent Green Cards. She left me and we didn't communicate much for about five years, until she mentioned in an email that the guy she left me for was ignoring her son. So, I said I would be glad to help out with him in anyway I could. I was really the only father he had known, we were together the first 5 years of his life. She eventually got rid of the boyfriend and we spend time together (with no sexual benefits) since neither of us have anyone else in our lives. And it's looking like that will be the story for the rest of my life, since I can't seem to even get a date for dinner nowadays.
A mere stripling of 21. Lasted for a wonderful 26 years .
I was 40. The marriage gave us 3 wonderful children but ended in divorce after 10 years.
16 years old
Shotgun wedding?
@kensmile4u my marriage lasted 24 years
@dc65 Shotguns are a powerful motivation. Lol... My ex was expecting when I got married. We were married 13 years. It was the most stressful time of my life. I had 2 kids with her. They were the silver linings. She was the dark cloud!!!!
I was 30. College educated. Had my own house on the family farm. Had 3 used cars, all paid for and all running! No student loan debt, no debt period! I was the most elligible bachelor in the county. Then I got married and it all went to hell. You'd have thought that carrying your own water amounted to being respected but that ain't always the case. Some wives want it all and expect someone else to provide it. Never again!
I was 24 and she was 25. Lasted for 36 years and the divorce became final on the 36th wedding anniversery.
WOW! That is a long time and not being able to get to the finish line. You must be
left with many wonderful memories
That was a hell of a run (not in a bad sense). Good on ya!
21 and 21 -- two lonely nerds who met in Calculus class - both far far away from home ... decided to get married when we realized we were probably never going to find "anything better" - calculating, but ... She carried us for the first 10 years, we had 20 "salad years" -- then she invoked the "in sickness and health clause" and passed after 20yr of grief. What would I change? -- don't honestly know - good times/bad times -