Marble Falls Let’s be honest, marriages are on the rocks these days. Surprisingly, it’s not because the divorce rates are astronomical. Pew Research has found that…
Divorce rates in the USA have been on a steady, long-term decline since the early 1980s, falling from a peak of 22.6 per 1,000 married women in 1980 to 14.4 in 2023. This decline, which recently hit record lows, is largely driven by younger generations marrying later, higher education levels, and shifting demographics, alongside rising divorce rates among those aged 50+.
Couples just don’t seem to be buying into marriage. The numbers reflect this clearly,
Marriage rates in the US have been declining since the 1950s. in 2021, a study found 25% of 40-year-olds had never been married, up from 6% in 1980.
Mi companera and I, rejecting any need for affirmation from the church or state for the last 46 years, have knowingly nodded, as we watched these cultural shifts with a slight touch of smugness, as part of the vanguard of this shifting trend. But, there we were without a touch of irony grinning like cheshire cats and sometimes wiping a tear or two from our eyes as our daughter, typical of all rebel children, just as we were, stood among friends and family in her backyard with her partner embracing marriage.
Family and blood trump ideology. I have never seen her happier and that was a miracle gift.
In fairness, this was a ceremony so one-of-its-kind and non-traditional that neither church nor state would possibly claim it. Our daughter, Dine’, and her partner, Han, cooked this up from scratch. Culturally, it was heavily New Orleanian and deeply rooted and staged in our Bywater neighborhood, and uniquely and totally gay at the same time. For any who attended, no matter their personal preferences, the marriage rates are going to take another beating, because it is almost unimaginable that, straight or not, this could be topped. One and all would have loved to be under the flowering arch and in that particular circle.
Besides almost perfect weather, a parade from the ceremony to the reception through the neighborhood following their truck, outfitted like a mini-Mardi Gras float, while they danced the whole way there with the music blaring with all of us second lining behind them, to a venue with a pool and dancing to the beat, and food to die for, how could anyone beat this, or not catch the spirit, and wonder how they could bottle this kind of pure joy and take a sip of it for the rest of their lives? Unbelievable!
We’re not going to change our minds of course about this whole process and “rush to the altar”, as they say, but we are going to take this warm glow from our daughter’s happiness with us for the rest of our lives. Our son wisecracked that for him “the pressure is on now.” Hardly, even if he, we, and everyone else present were ecstatic to be a part of this. We can take no credit, outside of pride in our daughter, because we simply did as we were told and collected the dividends. The theme of the wedding was “Feeling Lucky” and that’s exactly what we took away with us.