Happily Un-Married For Now

Tomorrow is my 5-year anniversary with my S/O. Yay us! Who would've thunk it? Back story: I met him in college on September 7, 2006. Immediately, we clicked. We literally stayed up talking until we fell asleep. Of course, my nosy housemates thought I slept with him. They couldn't fathom two people actually waking up fully-clothed (including shoes) having not had sex the night before. Even before it was “official,” it was official.  

Fast-forward 5 years. Here we are. People who knew us in college ask, “Are you still dating so-and-so?” “Are you married?” “Do y'all have any kids?” Yes, no and no. I always get the slow head nod after I give them the answers to the last two questions. My former manager once criticized me for being with him for this long without being married. Although I responded politely, it got me thinking, why does everyone want to decide what the appropriate waiting time to get married is? I was watching an episode of Friends (Rachel's 30^th birthday episode) and she said that she'd want to date someone for at least a year before getting engaged. For me, I have never thought there was an “appropriate” time to date before being engaged. I'm not going to be his eternal fiance, but I'm still young.

I just turned 21. While some say that we've been together too long to not be married, I disagree. We met when I was 16 and he was 18. Those years in college counted, but again, they didn't. Now is when it really matters whether we should be married or not. We just moved in together last summer, we just got a cat, we're sharing financial responsibilities... etc. I'm not going to rush into marriage when being divorced by 25-30 is an increasing trend. I only plan on being married once, and I plan on being happy. So until I am absolutely positive that he's going to be married, I'll hold off.

 Marriage is a beautiful thing. I'd love to be married, but I hate when people try to put a time line on it. Do you agree? Why or why not?

♥P.