I would have been happy to have married much earlier than I did (age 34). A number of the ladies who declined my approaches never married and are now in their late middle age. I remember one in particular whose grandmother wrote her telling her that she would never find another fellow like me. She meant that in a positive way. To my knowledge, she remains unmarried. One would-be girlfriend sent a get caught up e-mail me long after our time in college. After I described my family, the e-mails stopped.
Now, I might not have been the right man for any of them; I do not know. They were all lovely women as far as I know, and I wish them the best. I never did hit it big, and I do not have the best table manners. But, as my prescient father-in-law told my future bride “You’ll never be rich, but you’ll never be bored.”
I like being married. Twenty-seven years of marriage.
TWICE.
Married at twenty-one. Motivated me to grow up, try to be responsible and work to provide for a home and family. I did it better the second time.
There have been more choices and distractions for both sexes since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Young and middle aged people of both sexes have some serious deficiencies and our four children have been very fortunate. I have seen some really bad outcomes for younger relatives and acquaintances.
My wife must have been aborted at birth. Which is a good thing for her as her father might have said to her (about me) “you’ll always be bored, but at least you’ll never be rich”
bttt
Table manners can be easily and instantly improved.