Lack of commitment alarming

April 16, 2007 —

Over Easter weekend my family celebrated my maternal grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. Being around a couple who have been married for half of a century really made me want to find someone who I can be married to for that long.

At the anniversary party, one of my uncles gave a speech about how my grandparents set such a good example for all their children and grandchildren. My uncle also mentioned how his five siblings and their spouses represent 85 years of marriage.

The party really touched my heart. I also witnessed my grandparents' happiness and the happiness of so many other married couples there. From my own parents, to my aunts and my uncles, to my mom's cousins and their spouses, each seemed happy in their own way.

Being the third-oldest grandchild at 19, I see myself looking to my family for proper examples when it comes to love in the real world.

These days it seems that some people rush into marriage before they are ready. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world at 5.7 per 1,000 people. This number makes it seem like quite a few couples in the United States aren't committed to their marriage vows.

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, there are 301,587,404 people residing in the United States. If you apply the divorce rate to this number, that is 1,719,048 divorces estimated for the current population. That is approximately 180 times the enrollment of SVSU.

Marriage isn't some flimsy thing you step into; it is a new chapter of love and commitment in your life. If you aren't 100 percent certain you want to commit yourself to one person, don't get married. Just look at celebrities who have gotten married and divorced because they weren't ready for such a big commitment.

Britney Spears - train wreck extraordinaire - is a classic example. She got married on what some may call a drunken whim, only to get it annulled within the same weekend. And don't forget about the disastrous marriage to Kevin Federline. The guy was having a baby with another woman when he got together with Spears; you would think that would be a big red flag saying that he is not marriage material. Evidently, Spears just loves the scandal she herself creates in her life.

Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush, two of the stars of the CW's One Tree Hill, also provide a perfect example of at least one person in a couple not being ready for marriage. Having met on set, they apparently started a whirlwind romance in 2003, got engaged in 2004, then married and divorced in 2005. Shortly after his divorce, Murray started seeing a high school senior. He then got engaged to the teenager less than a year after dating her. Talk about a man with a flimsy commitment to love and marriage.

The list could go on and on with the number of celebrities who apparently aren't mature enough to commit themselves to marriage. My grandfather told a heartwarming story about how he had been chasing my grandmother since she was nine and he was 10 and that he only caught up to her because she slowed down.

My grandparents had known each other since they were preteens, but didn't get married until they were in their twenties. Now while my parents may have not known each other that long, they did know each other for quite some time before they got married. My parents met during my mom's freshman year of college, and got married after she completed her senior year.

When you get married you should be 100 percent sure that you are with someone you are ready to spend the rest of your life with.