Young Marriages
I've considered marriage when I was fourteen. My potential "fiancé" was eight years older, and -to a naïve teenager- sweet, fun, and thoughtful even though we rarely saw each other because of our tight schedules. We didn't miss each other though, at least I didn't, since we talked on the phone or e-mailed at least every other day about how we will get season tickets to the Laker's game and how he'll get me a fake ID so I can go to Vegas with him. However, after my mom objected, for various reasons, to a significant number of my dates with him I started becoming hesitant in replying to the e-mails. Also, he couldn't call me anymore because he changed to a later shift for work. It was during this time, just when I entered high school that I thought over my two options of either giving up on this relationship or eloping, recalling that he always joked that we can get married in some far-off state together.
Marriage Equality
Marriage Equality
A lesbian couple married in San Francisco in 2004It's scary to think I might've done that, but what's even scarier is that I truly believed that I'll never find anyone who I'll like half as much as I liked him, and only a few months after I broke up with him I found myself interested in a senior at school.
Ever since this small episode of my life, I've been sensitive to young marriages, and even more after observing people I know divorcing after only a few years of marriage. If the circumstances were different I could be married with children right now. Even though most states have eighteen as the legal age, which means the couple can marry on their own; the absolute minimum age is unclear. Some states do not allow anybody under fourteen to marry,