I Married Young—I Won’t Regret It

I see the laughter dancing in your eyes. I hear the condescension in your tone.

I told you my husband and I fell in love with each other at 17 and we’ve been together ever since.

It’s never a bright smile and “Oh, congratulations! How did you two meet?” when I tell someone I’m married, but wide eyes, and a tight smile asking “How old are you?”

It used to bother me. But now I get it.

I fell in love young, and when I say that to you, you might hear, “My life is over. The fun is over. The party is over.”

Or maybe you sit there silently as you mull over my declaration and think to yourself, “Young love never lasts.”

Maybe it stresses you out. “Isn’t she still in college? How the Hell is she going to finish that now?”

Or Hell, maybe you’re the person sitting there, right now, rolling your eyes while you’re reading this. “She’s so naïve,” you think to yourself as you sit there bitterly sipping your wine consumed with false superiority.

Which ever category you fall under, I want you to understand something. I may have met my husband as a teenager, but we’ll still love each other when we’re old and grey.

People have this false notion about falling in love and getting married. It’s ridiculous really, but people seem to think that when I settled down, my life stopped. They assumed I couldn’t drink anymore, go out anymore, travel anymore, and some people even thought that meant any of the goals I had set for myself were over if I hadn’t accomplished them before my wedding day, or they at least thought it made all of that stuff so much harder.

Prepare yourself for shock and surprise folks, but having my husband, made my life easier.

Settling down with the love of your life young isn’t ending the party. It’s throwing an even bigger party with your best friend that never stops even after you go home.

Also, side note, sometimes my husband doesn’t come with me, because even though I’m an old married lady now, I still need time with only the girls. And guess what, guys? Free designated driver.

I still want to travel. I want to go to beautiful places, and I want to experience adventures. I just want my best friend there with me.

My husband doesn’t stop my dreams. He helps me dream bigger.

He doesn’t slow down my progress and make it harder to accomplish my goals. He pushes me, he encourages me, and most importantly, he inspires me. And I do the same for him.

He’s my best friend. He’s the love of my life. He’s my soulmate. I want do everything with him as we conquer the world, equally as much as I want to do nothing with him as we sit at home.

True love doesn’t end your life. It enhances it.

It makes happy times, happier. It makes adventures, more adventurous. It makes doing absolutely nothing feel like something beautiful. It supplies light in times of darkness, and clarity in times of hopelessness.

So you see, my life didn’t end when I fell in love. It began.