The big difference

Something keeps gnawing at me. Whenever I see those anniversary wishes for people who have been married, say 50 years or more, I’m always quick to retort that they probably haven’t spoken to each other for the last 20. I’ve been saying this since I was a teenager and I don’t know why. My parents were only ever married to each other and most of my friends came from two-parent families…some of them still very much in love, on the outside anyway…see, there’s that gnawing pessimism again.

So it came to me one day. There are two kinds of marriages:  mutual commitments and partnerships. The commitment-based marriages seem to last longer. The partnerships faulter due to lack of understanding, differing expectations and independent agendas.

Next time, I want one of those commitment-based marriages. The ones that feature unconditional love and support, no matter what (with the exception of abuse in any form).