Friday, April 04, 2008

Marriage

I've been hearing a lot of weddings lately. And gosh...even my Industrial Management Studies lecturer used a marriage contract as an example of official contracts. Anyway, this has been a pet subject for me to blog about. Anyone who knows me well enough knows what I think about marriage.

The past few months I saw friends of friends tying the knot ( there must be a history behind the use of that phrase...does it imply a hangman's noose knot? ), anyway, these friends would only be around 20 to 22 years and I really really really wonder what madness drove them to end their singledom so early in life. And it's not because of pre-marital 'bundles of joy'. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to hear that they're happy, but there's that skeptic part of me that wonders what's down the road 10, 20 years from now. When their other friends are just only getting married and they're home worrying about schooling their child?

One of the things that sparked this post would be th above-said marriage contract. It was cold, calculated, full of legal jargon and phrases like Mr XXX is sound of mind when this contract was signed...etc etc. Sound of mind...haha....what a phrase to use. There are so many cultural, society and legistral binds and bonds involved in 'holy matrimonial'.You;re not officially married till you walk down the aisle, go for tea ceremonies, get trashed at the reception dinner, face an army of relatives that may or may not mean anything to you, and sit for dinners here and there and everywhere. I mean, go figure the logic behind that.... I once told someone that if I decided to get married, I would just elope. Isn't that a thousand times more romantic and more private? But then of course there would be the hell to face when you get back......

I think I've become really jaded these past years. Heck, I've yet to be 20, and here I am looking at the future with all the enthusiam of going to the dentist for a painful extraction. Isn't this the phase where I get to be oozing silly optimism and making stupid mistakes that I can later tell my grandkids about over evenings filled with laughter and over-sweet teas. And then, maybe this is the biggest mistake I'm going to be making............

The last wedding I heard about I found myself wishing the couple the best for the future. I hope that in another decade to come the bride stays radiant, the groom stays smitten and I really really hope that for once at least, fairytales and dreams do come true and happily ever after isn't just a phrase limited in storybooks for little girls.