Reflections on marriage, on the week of my anniversary

On Thursday, June 2, I will have been married to M for three years. Three years of love, sometimes even hate, joy, pain, frustration, pleasure, companionship, loneliness, happiness, sadness and everything in between. In many ways, I was born the day I met M. In many other ways, part of me died: The part that was a single entity, happy living a solitary life. Such are the paradox and contradictions of marriage.

This article talks about a new book that calls marriage an outdated social institution. We've been hearing that since the '70s. Never mind the compelling, overwhelming evidence that happily married people live longer, more satisfying lives, and that 90 percent of all people get married -- some people will always see it as an outdated, if not outright harmful, societal convention.

I'm for marriage. I love my husband, as much as he may frustrate and upset me at times, and in a lot of ways, coming home to him makes all the shit I have to put up with during the day worthwhile. He makes my life easier and more palatable in so many ways -- ways that make up for the fact that he also complicates it. Here's to you, M, and many, many more. I love you.