On Marrying Young

There are a lot of different reactions I get when people know I am married - even more so when they found out I was married at 23.  For my close friends or friends that have known me in college, it was a reaction of, "Finally." Some were eager to know when we were planning on having a family.  Which is nobody's business.  Others, who didn't know me well, would say, "That's it.  Say goodbye to your freedom."  Say goodbye?  If anything, I felt like I was saying hello to my freedom.  To me, freedom started with him.

If I could have it my way, I would have been married to my husband much sooner.  Thankfully, he is a logical human being and convinced me that we should at least wait til we are graduated to start planning.  It's not that either of us needed more time to decide if we wanted to spend our lives together - I knew he was going to be my husband after a handful of months.  We wanted to be able to enjoy our lives together and not feel like we were struggling to live.  He wanted to be able to support us, and I wanted to find out what my dream in life really was - because at this point, I didn't know what I wanted to do.

"Why did you marry young?"

Why do you do anything as fast as you can?  You do something quickly, because you are eager to get started.  I was eager to get started on our life.  I was eager to be young, wild, and free.  Do I still feel like I have my freedom now that I have been married for almost 2 years?  Absolutely.  This is as free as we have ever felt.

To me, freedom is doing all the things I love with the man that I love.

To me, freedom is going on adventures near and far.  It's going to get donuts together in the middle of the night because it just sounds good.  It's rearranging our living room every few months.  It's bar hopping in Seattle at 11:00 AM because that's when brunch starts, and turning in early cause we're tired. 

Freedom is knowing who has your back, your hand, and your heart.  Freedom is having his heart in return and knowing how precious it is.  

Freedom is living a life full of fun, love, and adventure with your best friend by your side.  I never gave up my freedom.  I embraced it.