I got married at 23, we moved away from our support networks for a job that I had been offered. Within a year she had started cheating on me with a guy that was ‘me, before I became a boring working stiff’. A separation and divorce followed despite trying to work through the issues with a marriage councilor. Instead of alimony I paid off her credit cards and gave her some cash. Fast forward a while and I remarried, someone I had met on the internet on a video game that took 2 years just for INS permission to marry (she is danish), and we have been married for 5 years now and its still awesome (With the obvious caveat every relationship takes work and compromise.) Marriage works with the right person and commitment. Is marriage a necessity? Not really, but it offers proof of commitment that buying stuff and hanging out doesn’t.
