“Why aren’t you married?”

I’ve been asked that question a million times.

At some point during one of those million times I decided it is something I’ll never ask anyone.  It assumes a lot of things.  It assumes that a person wants to get married, or marriage is something everyone needs to do, or that some how it is in our hands to make marriage happen.  Many times it is asked with a certain suspicion, “Why isn’t he married?  There must be something wrong with him …”.  People do not seem sensitive to the fact that many girls want to get married, but nobody has asked them.  Or that many guys want to get married, but have been unceremoniously dumped by girls they loved.  The question is insensitive, I’ve decided, and let’s be honest – if we did answer the question with truth, I fear the person who asked it would get a certain “don’t tell me the long story” look on their face.  They really don’t care – at least that has been my experience. 

When asked, I would just smile and ask, “Why aren’t you a millionaire?” or “Why aren’t you skinnier?”  (Just kidding about that one … I don’t want them reciprocating the question to me!)  But over the years, I have become diplomatic - very able to deftly smile and change the topic.

SO … after many years of knowing some day I would get married, but understanding and living with the timing of God and the freewill of women, it seems weird to me to announce that I will be getting married.  But I will.

I don’t know why now, and not earlier, other than I finally found a girl who loved me too.  And it seems trivial to say that she said yes, but she did, and it’s not .. not to me anyway.  If you want to get the scoop, then please go visit www.stepintolove.com and read our stories, see pics, and sign our guestbook cuz we’d be honored to have you comment.  Smile.

1. Take out all the furniture in your home except for one table and a couple of chairs. Use blanket and pads for beds.

2. Take away all of your clothing except for your oldest dress or suit, shirt or blouse. Leave only one pair of shoes.

3. Empty the pantry and the refrigerator except for a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a few potatoes, some onions, and a dish of dried beans.

4. Dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water, and remove all the electrical wiring in your house.

5. Take away the house itself and move the family into the tool shed.

6. Place your "house' in a shantytown.

7. Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and book clubs. This is no great loss because now none of you can read anyway.

8. Leave only one radio for the whole town.

9. Move the nearest hospital or clinic ten miles away and put a midwife in charge instead of a doctor.

10. Throw away your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, and insurance policies. Leave the family a cash hoard of ten dollars.

11. Give the head of the family a few acres to cultivate on which he can raise a few hundred dollars of cash crops, of which one third will go to the landlord and one tenth to the money lenders.

12. Lop off twenty-five or more years in life expectancy.

Do you understand now how wealthy and blessed we are?  Do you understand that with that wealth comes responsability?  What are you going to do?