PJ Media

I can find many paths to careers within the span of 5 years. Very unlikely I will run into someone as compatible with me as my wife. The decision is/was very simple from my end.

True. Bridget, you are making the same mistake many women of my generation (late boomers) did. We pitied friends who married right after college. We assumed that after we were done with our fab ’20′s and set on upward career paths, we would all meet Mr. Wonderful when we were 30-32 or so and settle down. Alas, life doesn’t work on schedule and men who are good marriage material and interested in “real love” will not magically appear when you’re “ready.” A guy a friend passed up when she was 24 because he was too serious and eager to settle down, is someone she now looks wistfully back on as “the one who got away.” Well, she let him get away.

You’re also assuming that career will always be the big priority in life. Believe me, many highly ambitious and go-getter 25 year olds become the single and childless 50 year olds who are bored and dissatisfied with work and feel a great void in their lives where husband and children should be. Honestly, when I look back now at huge work projects which consumed my life back in my 20′s and 30′s – I can’t remember the details anymore, even when I look at my resume. The promotion and raise that was so important then is barely remembered 10 years down the road. Let’s face it – most of us are not curing cancer or writing the Great American Novel. I like my work OK, but if the lottery ticket came through, I’d quit tomorrow:)

And yeah, people are forgetting the little matter of children, who do much better with 2 parents instead of one. Once you have them, your life doesn’t (and shouldn’t) revolve around you and your little needs and wishes.