TWENTY......and counting

Its been approximately 5days 19hours and 2minutes since my transition. Panic mode. This can only mean that my days of rebelling, girl crushes,and acne problems are behind me OK,well except for the acne part (big sigh).

Just when I was getting used to the melodrama.

So, am twenty...and counting. Counting my blessings. Counting my days. Counting my gray hairs..uhmm....back to counting my blessings again. :-) 

There is a famous saying that with great power comes great responsibility.And boy1 do I have a ton  of responsibilities lying ahead, cant say much for the power part though I hope that figures into the picture- eventually.Speaking of responsibilities, one does come into mind - Marriage ;-P.  Yhup! its almost about that time innit?

So just the other day  my uncle mentioned to me, in less than subtle terms, that from next year they would be accepting dowry. Whose, was best left to my imagination. And thats what got me thinking. Somewhere down the road, society would expect I find myself the "American dream" : a handsome husband ,two-and-half kids and a white  picket fence. Trick question: Why do people get married?

Case scenario: X meets Y. They fall in love. Get married. Have kids. How does the rest work out? Is it really because of the vows, or their kids perhaps, or maybe they simply cant live without each other? Getting married is one thing, Staying married (and being happy doing so) is an entirely different ball game.So why do some marriages work out and others dont? Does it mean they didnt really love each other? I think not. Now I dont mean to be a cynic here, but dont even get me started on the divorce rates.

"I, ____, take you, ____, to be my (husband/wife). I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. I, ____, take you, ____, for my lawful (husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad; First, there is the promise

Promise; An engagement by one person to another, either in words or in writing, but properly not under seal, for the performance or nonperformance of some particular thing. The word promise is used to denote the mere engagement of a person, without regard to the consideration for it, or the corresponding duty of the party to whom it is made.

  To be true to you; 

True: unswervingly faithful and loyal

..... In good times and in bad.

....In sickness and in health

I will LOVE and HONOR you ALL the days of my life.

Love: 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. I Corinthians 13: 4- 8 (NIV)

Honor: That which rightfully attracts esteem, respect, or consideration; self-respect; dignity; courage; fidelity; especially, excellence of character; high moral worth; virtue; nobleness; specif., in men, integrity; uprightness; trustworthness; in women, purity; chastity.

"To have and to hold, or better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Until death do us part; Climax or anti climax? Go figure.

Trick question: Why do people stay married?

So the main idea is to find the one you are madly in love with and cant live without, propose to her (or accept his proposal as the case may be) get married and settle down. Whew! So what happens next, after the honeymoon is over and you have bills to pay, decisions to make, kids to procreate,and a life to build together?  Oh! did I mention the in-laws you have to put up with? 

Okey dokey! I'm going to go a lil Dr Phil here and tell you what I think the deal is on this marriage issue. The only pronoun involved is OUR. For this marriage to work, its OUR responsibility.In sickness, its OUR sickness. In wealth, heck its OUR wealth! lol. Bottom line, you exist for each other. See the thing is, there is a lot of commitment involved here, make that a lifetime of commitment. 

Pardon my ramblings but I haven't quite figured this out yet. So please I would like to hear what your thoughts are on the issue..Why do people get married and What makes a marriage work? Looking forward to your criticism and responses.

Shout out to all the beautiful people born in March! I am still accepting post humuos birthday gifts by the way! Cheers!

"I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even

marry you because I loved you. I married you because you

gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults.

And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect

people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage.

And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that

protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them - it was that

promise."

Thornton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth