Marriage

Gosh, I have got to get used to writing at least every other day! Anyway, I want to talk about marriage today. Does anybody take this seriously anymore? I was talking to co-workers, and mentioned how I thought that society today really doesn't give marriage very much respect. Married people don't give marriage the respect it deserves. I mean, honestly, whatever happened to "til death do us part"? I know it may be idealistic to mean it when you say it, but we should all at least try to reach it. I know that there are some things that you can't work through, but to me, those are the most extreme cases where there is abuse involved, or where one partner is just absolutely unwilling to work it out. But if everybody would just do their best to hold to the values and vows of their marriage.....you know? I remember watching some documentaries of war-wounded veterans...particularly one young man who lost his leg, went through rehab, and went home. He had to use a wheelchair and had to rely on his wife for helping with most everyday tasks -- things that those of us with all of our limbs take for granted. Anyway, in one part where she expressed her feelings, she mentioned that he was the main caretaker of the family, and now that he's come home disabled, that she had to take over that role - no big deal, understandably stressful - but here is what shocked me. She said she didn't know how long her marriage would last like this. I mean, call me harsh and judgemental, but how selfish! That's what a partnership is; that's what a marriage is; and this is part of what you promised in front of god and family and friends - "in sickness and in health"......what happened to that? Can we just break promises because it gets too "hard"?? I say if a difficult situation that neither of you were in control of happens to rear its ugly head, that shouldn't change your love for that person, unless you weren't really in love with that person to begin with, in which case you should've never committed to marrying and spending the rest of your life with this person. We've gone from a society where divorce was never an option and looked down upon to the point that women would stay through all kinds of mistreatment, to present time "i love you, let's get married, wake up in the morning and oops!, who the hell are you, let's get an anullment!" And let me just say that I am not a religious person, and therefore don't hold to my beliefs for the sake of the bible or god. I hold to them because I believe that you shouldn't make promises and commitments affecting the rest of your life that you don't really intend to keep. Let's start taking our lives and the lives of those we love a little more seriously, with a lot more respect and dare I say, caution! Not taking marriage seriously doesn't just affect our lives, but the life of the other person believing the vows, the person we're saying them to, and in some cases, the lives born out of that union. I have total respect for people who honestly gave it their all, tried their hardest to make it work, but in the end, decided that it just wasn't going to more than those who feel butterflies, get married, and when the going gets tough, they run to the nearest law office or worst, into the nearest beauty or hunk that opens their arms (or whatever else)(and disappointingly, sometimes they aren't anywhere near beautiful or hunky!)