The night I met my wife I had the rare experience of meeting about 30 of her family members too. I went to a Christmas Eve church service at the church that she and her family attended. It was my first time there. It ended with a get together afterwards and, as a bachelor living on my own, I was on board for staying and having some food, games, playing some cards, and having some fun.
My future wife and I hit it off very well, and her dad was even my partner for a couple euchre games that evening. She and I talked and got together the day after Christmas, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day,etc…….
I was 31 and she was 25 at the time, and we were both off work for the holidays. By the time New Years Day rolled around the subject of marriage had already come up. On day 10 after meeting I asked her to marry me. She agreed, and we have spent 20 more Christmases together and counting.
It’s one of the fastest decisions I have made in life. There was an instant bond, comfort, and level of honesty that I could not imagine I would ever experience after the prior decade spent floundering in confusion on the dating scene.
One piece of advice that I’m thankful for receiving came to me in my early 20s. An older gentleman that I respected told me that I needed to focus on improving the quality of the finished product that I’m offering. A good quality product will attract a quality buyer. And he explained this to me more than once.
Because of his advice and stuff I witnessed friends going through, by age 31 I was on a financially sound footing and had overcome most of the habits and behaviors that I witnessed causing strain in other peoples marriages. In the long run I believe the extra time it took to find my wife is the very thing that enabled me to act decisively and to secure her quick agreement, and to secure the agreement from her parents that she wanted. That’s a fun conversation to have after 10 days.
