Thanks Ariana (or…Barryana? Could that be a man’s name? JK!)

I actually wrote a bit more about those marriages in the original version, but deleted it for the sake of brevity.

The first marriage I admire is that of my cousin. They’re just solid people who treat each other with pure respect. Do I think they’re madly, passionately in love? Nope. Do they have enough character that it almost doesn’t matter? Yup. They’re both consistent in their actions and committed to a higher goal, and they have the foresight to treat each other well. They don’t let the emotions of one moment make them say toxic things to each other. I really admire them. They’re doing a fantastic job raising their 5 children.

The second marriage is a friend of a friend. I actually don’t think much of the wife — she’s a bit silly. But her husband is just a solid dude who makes up for her foibles, and you can see that she is secure in his love. Her weight has fluctuated, and he still seems fully proud to be with her and show her off — a lot of guys get all sheepish and weird if their wives gain weight. When she gets upset, he often says, “Hey, we’re on the same team, remember?” He’s just fully committed to the marriage and family and they laugh with each other and treat each other well. If I could find a guy like him (and KNOW the guy was really like him, not putting on an act) I would totally marry him! I sure hope he doesn’t end up having an affair or getting caught with child porn or something…it would break my heart.

So…good marriages do exist! I’m not sure how one goes about ensuring they’ll have a good marriage, though — I’ve certainly seen others that seemed so promising but turned out to be terrible!