Should you ever choose to leave her, one can only imagine the emotional fallout experienced.
Yours is an exception to the rule, but "live-in" girlfriends tend to be frightened of what might happen should the man suddenly decide to "move on."
To many women, it is like walking around on eggshells.
True but the same thing goes for any marriage too. Where one partner leaves or says they want a divorce the emotional fallout is horrible. How many people have this so-called perfect marriage - say I love my wife and then you hear down the road that oops they got divorced. Everyting depends on the couple and how well they get along. Marriage is absolutely no guarantee that a couple will stay together. I am all for marriage if that is what you want. For me its NOT what I want.
I lived with someone for 5 years, then married him. I'm not sure that living together is a good trial run for long-term marriage. You can test compatability in terms of sex, living habits, chore division, etc. But you can't anticipate everything like the effect of children, aging parents, changing health, etc.
Still, I think ruling out certain basic incompatabilites before marriage gives marriage a better chance. I never felt like I was walking on egg shells. We got married because it seemed like the next logical step if we wanted to have kids and pool our money. I remember thinking we were at the point to decide if we would move to the next stage of life together or if we needed to move on separately. Evenutally I was the one pushing for a decision because I was ready to move on with life.
I guess it's normal in a relationship for one person to be more goal oriented than another (push to buy 1st house, get started on home repairs, plan vacations). Funny, I would have thought in most cases its the woman pushing her partner to decide if they should get married or each start over. Biological clock ticking, you know.
Unfortunately, after about 11 years marriage, it became apparent that this was not going to work in the long term, for many reasons that we couldn't anticipate. However, children, not the marriage license, have made separation/divorce impracticle. Now in our 22nd year of marriage (and 27th year together) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as my youngest child is in high school. It's civil enough, but not what I want out of marriage.
I'm not sure I would ever again give up my own house/apartment to live with someone. I might co-habitate, but I would want a place apart available. I've gotten used to my privacy within my own home. I not sure I would ever marry again, though I won't rule it out.