My View on Age and Marriage

Being a young whipper-snapper of 19 years and in a serious relationship I am oft told of the perils of marrying too young. In fact many people have told me that I shouldn't even be in a serious relationship at my age. My question is, what age must a person hit where all of the sudden they are ready to get married? Is the 27th birthday something like the 21st where the day before you were much too immature to marry/drink but the day you hit that age, suddenly, miraculously you emerge armed with knowledge and experience, ready to take on the responsibility. But not everyone even agrees on 27, some say wait until your 30's! No across the board generalizations are true (I just made one there; paradox?) and maturity levels by age certainly are not. I, for one, know a 32 year old woman whom I do not think should marry (a second time). Some people just aren't cut out for it and some people just aren't ready. Am I ready, you ask? Yes. Many people who have hit their 30's feel enormous pressure to get married, so they find someone halfway suitable and marry him because their parents are getting worried, the biological clock is ticking, and society says so. If I, on the other hand, get married, it would be against the grain of society and against (almost) all advice. This either shows that I am profoundly immature, or profoundly devoted. I don't mean to herald my maturity but I have never been called immature in my life and have been literally called, in the words of my friend, "the oldest 19 year old I've ever met." Because although I am 19 I am old enough to know that marriage is about more than love. It is about commitment and dedication and trust and what we lack in age, we make up for in those departments.

The only people that have encouraged my feelings and plans are my grandparents. Someone might say they are old-fashioned but look at their track record. My grandmother on my mom's side stayed with my grandfather until he died two years ago and my other grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. Call me crazy but I put a lot of stock in their opinions and advice on marriage.