Like many people of my generation, my girl and I both come from divorce households. My father's been through two and is on his third. (and she's kind of crazy, but at least she tokes.) My mother her second, but happy.
To say that marriage is a cut and dried concept at this point would be a joke. For people like me, marriage is a subject to be tread very cautiously.
That being said, we've been together for ten years through thick and thin and are still holding. We have hard times. Harder than most who know us would probably think. But the love is stronger, and so here we are.
I voted "no" because I don't like the idea of the government being involved in any such business of mine.
At the age of five or so I watched my mother and father turn on each other because of the government's interference in our family life. I watched my parents tear each other apart emotionally and spiritually over things like custody and child support. Not because anyone was being the bad guy.. but because they were both so full of fear. A fear that was created almost entirely by the pressures of societal judgements and the implications of lack implied therein.
My girl's parents both remarried as well. Her mother remarried to a monster of a man after having a nervous breakdown. Cancer came later. I believe there is a strong correlation between cancer and stress/living conditions. Take what you want from that. Her father, like my mother, is happy on number two.
Suffice to say, we've talked about marriage enough to know that we both are very cautious of the concept. Even commitment has been questioned strongly over ten years. You don't go a decade with someone without running the full gamut... and at this point, we know each other and have come to realize that what is here is worthwhile, even with the problems and temptations and everything else.
I would say that I am generally for commitment. But I am also "basically" married, except for the symbolism of "closing the gap" on commitment by signing some document. Lucky for me, my girl's parental/marriage related background is so similar to mine that we entirely understand the vulnerabilities and potential dangers of marriage but also understand the benefits and blessings of committed relationships.
