Some of you know that my friend is getting married. I am her matron-of-honor because I am matronly and shit.
(I fit the job description pretty well. I look okay in a dress. I can organize important events. I can do a toast.)
I’ve been thinking about why marriage is so hard. I just read that 43% of heterosexual first marriages will end in divorce within 15 years, and 25% of all men and women report being marriage two or more times by age 50. Other studies show that 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce.
Heterosexual marriage is not easy. Second marriage is harder. I wonder why we don’t rush to the aid of our friends who are divorced, by the way. We show up at the wedding. We throw baby showers. But while our friends are mourning the loss of a marriage, we clamor for news about Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney.
(Aniston is nearly fifty, which makes her a grown ass lady who can do whatever the hell she wants. Clooney is over 50 and just married his first wife, which is a Jungian nightmare. Thanks but no thanks. I’d rather not look.)
While I’m thinking about this upcoming wedding, I’m also watching the local media coverage of new gay marriage laws in North Carolina. It’s happening, and it’s a good thing. Being married is the biggest privilege of my life. Other people should do it. The world would be a better place, despite what this moron thinks.
So this is all just to say that marriage is on my mind.
As I start to dig into my role as a bridesmaid — and as I think about the men and women in our country who have fought to marry the person they love — I hope that everyone who reads this blog post gets the chance to meet someone awesome, fall in love, and have a 39 year-old matron of honor deliver a kick-ass toast at the wedding.
Just don’t marry George Clooney. He’ll be on the market in a year or two, and you should resist the temptation!
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Can you skip the divorce stats in your kick ass speech? 😉
I agree 100% about the need to support our friends through all the stages – better or worse or stupid. And the real friends do! We just have distorted view of who real friends are thanks to social.
I couldn’t ask for a better friend or MOH – who has been there through it all with me – to stand by my side for this.
Xoxo. 50 days!!!!!
Just a tidbit of trivia… this is actually George Clooney’s 2nd marriage. Don’t ask me how I know this; I have a weird mind for trivia. She is currently married to John Slattery, so I think she is one lucky lady!