I know I've said this before, but I feel like everyone around me is getting married. Thankfully, my roommates are all blessedly single, so I'm not surrounded by happy in love people. However, it seems like a lot of people I know have gotten engaged or married this year. My ex-boyfriend was married this summer (to what sounds like a great woman, so I'm happy for him), and so was my cousin, a school friend, and a camp friend. I know two separate couples that just got engaged.
I've been thinking about marriage a lot recently. I'm honestly at a point in my life where I am starting to think about getting married myself. Don't worry; there are no marriage candidates at this point in time. I'm not even dating anyone. But I'm still considering the marriage issue, mainly because I know that I ultimately want to have children, and I'd like a good man to parent with me.
When I was visiting my great aunt in Milwaukee, we talked a bit about marriage. She had been married for 50 odd years to my recently-deceased great uncle. We talked about my relationships and what I was looking for in a guy; I've got a laundry list of qualities, attributes, and hobbies that I'd love to find in my ultimate mate. What she told me, though, is perhaps more important than my list. She said that, to her, the most important things in a mate are faithfulness and love. Communication is also key. After that, everything can be worked out.
I've been mulling it over. Is that what it's all about? I'm not sure. I'm a cerebral person, and I love to mull things over with someone else. I talk out my thoughts (both problems and even just considerations). I'm chatty in general. I also love intellectual discussions, word games, and generally nerdy stuff. I use "big words" when I talk (it's that darn SAT vocab). But I also try to avoid intellectual pretension, and it's challenging to find someone who shares my interests without also being a prat.
I intend to find someone loving and caring no matter what. It's not like I'd go for an intellectual guy who was unfaithful over a sweethearted, caring individual who was less brainy. But I think that while I'm young, I can afford to be picky still.