<p>midmo and mammall - SO glad to read your posts! </p>
<p>The D I mentioned in my first post in this thread is marrying at the age of 22 in August after her May graduation. Her fiance (age 24) will have finished his first year of graduate school. H and I have fretted that she is too young (national average IS 25F/27M), she hasn’t decided what educational path to take next (plans to work a year or two while she decides - graduate school vs law school), etc. etc. We have resigned ourselves that she has always been a very mature, level headed soul and that it is her decision. It is just not what we expected and we worry. Reading your stories helps!</p>
<p>MidwestParent - Sometimes you just have dumb luck and find your soul mate early in life. The trick is to be wise enough to recognize it. H and I just celebrated anniversary number 28. Our prospects were iffy at best when we married but it all worked out. It’s deeply rewarding to build a life together from the ground up. </p>
<p>I’m so happy to help put your mind at ease! I will add an important note to my story. We waited to have children–a long time. I look back on the early years of marriage and the many years one or both of us was a student with great fondness, but if we had been faced with the obligations of child-rearing at the same time (both financial and time) those years would have had a very different feel.</p>
<p>Increased familiarity is linked with greater attraction. This means that people are more likely to be friends with and/or date the people they see more often (i.e. those on their floor vs. the average student on campus). People who live in high-exposure areas (room by the bathroom or staircase) tend to know more people.</p>
<p>midmo and midwestparent – I was only a few years older than midmo’s D when I married a grad school student. Our experience was very much like midwestparents’: we waited for a long time to have kids, and took advantage of not having a house or careers. We’d work, save money, then travel. Spent 4 months in Asia, a year in Europe, weeks at a time in Mexico before the inevitable responsibilities related to “real” jobs, a mortgage and finally children slowed us down a bit. It was a wonderful time in our lives. And we’re still very happily together more than a quarter of a century later.</p>
<p>We waited a long time for kids, too – eleven years! And they were wonderful years. Have never regretted waiting. And I also loved being married early and have not regretted not waiting for that. Lots of approaches can work, of course, but I have to say that I’d be so pleased if my kids follow our pattern - early solid marriage, children later when they’re really ready (emotionally and financially).</p>
<p>Midmo and Mammall - I don’t want to monopolize this thread with my own concerns, but wanted to thank you again for your replies. CC is just a wonderful place to get your spirits lifted! </p>
<p>The ONLY concern I have is their ages, other than that I am totally fine with the marriage! I know my daughter is a gem - will graduate in May with a 4.0 (if she can keep it up this semester!), with honors from her department and from the school, holds down a part time job, is an officier at her hall, AND is now planning a wedding! He is smart (NM), musically talented, mature, and most of all, treats my daughter like a queen.</p>
<p>H and I were OLD (32 and 25, respectively) when we married in 1980. H completed undergrad, grad, med school, internship, and we married at the end of his residency. We still struggled ALOT in the beginning, as he went into solo practice (which no one seems to do these days). As we head to our yearly meetings with life/disability insurance providers, pension planners, accountants, will attorneys, etc. we laugh and say life in a lot of ways much easier when we first started out!</p>
<p>My husband and I lived in the same dorm in college – I lived on the fourteenth floor, and he lived on the fifth. He was good friends with one of the guys who lived on my floor, and one night he came upstairs looking for our mutual friend and found him chatting in my room with a big group of other people. One by one, everybody left, including our mutual friend, and it was just him and me. We stayed up all night talking, and we’ve been together ever since.</p>
<p>(And MidwestParent, we got married in September at the ages of 23 and 22. :))</p>
<p>Molliebatmit - This thread is making me feel better and better! Good ole’ CC!
P.S. I followed your wedding thread - loved every single post you made!</p>
<p>So not having the usual college experience…worked and went to school part time taking about 8 years to finish, I was just curious if my siblings who all married college sweethearts were the norm or unusual, 2 from small colleges and one from a big state university. My D always thought she would meet someone in college, but now in her junior year she is just having fun. But I agree that it is easier to meet people in college than the workplace.</p>