These include marriages of young folk:
* age 18, married for 20 years (no college degree)
* age 20/21, married for 14 years (one college graduate, one in college)
* age 21/25, married for 14 years (one college graduate, one grad student)
* age 23/36, married for 10 years (no college degree)
And I know of at least 5 marriages in which the wife is 8 to 12 years older than her husband.* (To be fair, the most recent of these marriages is in its third year -- it has not yet stood the test of time.)
That's not to say that "most" such marriages will succeed -- but at least among these folks, who happen to be from white, middle-class families who in some cases initially worried about the match, they seem to be beating the odds.
FN* None of these couples involve a woman who could be classified as a "cougar" in the current sense, and I believe there was no significant wealth discrepancy between the partners in any of these matches.
2 comments:
Don't forget us: married at 23/25, MBA/PhD, 14 years and counting!
We are seeing a rather alarming number of friends' and acquaintances' marriages end in divorce this year (not to mention serious health issues and all sorts of depressing problems). A determination to prioritize the relationship essential.
On the other hand, we saw what we thought was a rock-solid marriage end at 18 years. My friend (the guy, who was literally abandoned in secret) was stunned--he said he was uncertain about the marriage for 10 years, but had finally become secure that they were going to make it.
Constant vigilance!
Awesome!!! I didn't include you guys because I don't think anyone thought you were marrying too young ... partly because you both had your degrees already and were both over 21. :-)
But you have my unconditional congratulations, love and support.
I'm so sorry to hear about the friend you mention. There's something particularly horrible about the situation, a species of fraud, where one spouse is secretly setting up a new life in advance before leaving the other spouse.
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