Did you or do you know of someone who got married young?

My BIL met his wife in catering college at 16. They married at 20 and are in their 60s now. Doing fine.

What do you consider young?
I was 25, Mrs Squeeky was 23 is that young?
Next August we will hit 30years married and still strong.

I know several, most are divorced now.

My best friend and I no longer talk because she married young (around 18 I believe), to another friend of mine, and had cheated on him the whole time with her ex. Her fiancee asked me to be honest, I was, and they got married anyway, even after a big fight about why they would get married when she couldn’t be faithful prior to marriage and still had feelings for her ex. Not a great situation.

Another friend and his girlfriend got pregnant, got married at 18–19, and he died from an overdose but they were seperated at the time. Not a good situation for those kids even prior to seperation.

I have a million of these stories, but maybe one in fifty ended well.

I know of a couple, of which the woman was 18, and the man 23, when they wed, who are now 75 and 80 respectively, and still married.
With some ups and downs, but happily.

My wife and I got married in our early twenties, which is young for my generation (about seven years earlier than the average person born in the same year as me). None of our friends or classmates had gotten married yet, and only one of my cousins had gotten married by that point (though she is four years older than me). We’ve been married for over a decade now, and we lived together for three years before that, so things seem to be going pretty well.

My husband and I met in June of ‘91 when we were 20. We got married 10 months later when we were 21.

27 years later and we’re still together and doing better than ever. It hasn’t been easy but the hard times made us stronger.

I was 21. Hubby was 20. We went through hell together. Its lots better now. We’ve been 41 years.

My co-worker met her husband at age 16, dated through college, got married and are still married at age 45.
@snowberry Congratulations on 41 years!

My 19yo niece wants to get married in a year. Her fiancé is 30. They’re a great fit together personality-wise. But I’m wondering if him being older is pushing their timeline.

I know she’s technically an adult. But I’ll always think of her as my little two-year-old niece. It’s hard to come to terms with them growing up.

sigh

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories! It really helps to hear about couples getting married at a young age and having it work out for them.

@rebbel Married at 18 and going strong for 57 years! Wow!

@snowberry Congrats on 41 years!

@everyone Really would like to shake all of your hands. :)

@KNOWITALL I’ve heard a lot of those stories too. Makes me super nervous. The good thing is that they are pretty drama-free. Hopefully that’s a constant.

My sister and her husband dated in college and married when she was 22. They have been married for 45 years. I have never heard them be kind to each other, and rarely civil, but they are very proud of that number (45). Their marriage, their business.

@canidmajor I’ve also known couples like that. The ones that make you scratch your head about why they’re still married. But also seem proud about being married for so long. It’s doubly, mind-boggling.

@raum Probably because statistics show young marriages dont last, but are years an accomplishment if its just duty bound? Not sure.

My grandmother married my grandfather when she was 16 and he was 22.

I lived with my now wife for seven years before getting married. I was 32 when we were married and that was probably too young. We are still doing well and crossing ten married years now. Most of my friends who got married did it after knowing their spouses for less than a year and are now unsurprisingly divorced. Relationships have to stand the test of time, young is usually too young to get married.

My partner’s mum and dad met when they were in their early teens. It was at a dance. Dad saw her and turned to his friend and said, “I’m going to marry her.” He asked her to dance, and she turned him down. The excuse was that she had seen him dance and thought that he couldn’t.

Dad took up dance lessons. About a year later he spotted her again. The lessons must have worked, as she accepted the offer to go to the movies.

Mum was the illigimant child of a single woman and a married man. The mother died either during or shortly after childbirth. Mum was brought up by her aunt, her mother’s sister.

When the movie date was over, Dad escorted Mum home. They found a suitcase on the doorstep filled with Mum’s clothes. Someone had spotted Mum out with a boy and reported it to the uber strict, Christian aunt, who was furious.

Dad took her home and told his parents the story. They immediately took her in, despite already having eight children. Once they were old enough, they married.

My parents married at 16 and 18.
My sister married at 20.

My in laws got married at 16 and 19. They were married for 40 years until she passed away.

@KNOWITALL It’s an accomplishment of some sort. Definitely not one I’d like to achieve though.

@kritiper @filmfann and @anniereborn And was it a happy marriage?

@ARE_you_kidding_me We have a similar time line. Dated for seven years, married early thirties, going on ten years. A few friends married knowing each other less than a year, now divorced. :/

@Pied_Pfeffer See, I don’t get that.

My niece’s mom was also a single mother. Her aunt (who helped to raise her) also threw her out of the house when she found out she was sleeping with a (then) 29yo.

I get trying to be over-protective, so they don’t repeat the same mistakes. But throwing them out of the house when they need guidance the most doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m glad her story ended well though! (I really hope it ends well for my niece too.)

About average, I’d say…

@raum It had it’s up and downs. But when all was said and done, they loved each other very much, and were quite happy to be together.