How do you define a successful relationship? For Vicki Larson, it’s not just about a ring on your finger.
We’re at the end of the so-called engagement season, December through February, when more people get on a knee and flash the bling than any other time of the year.
Fewer people are marrying — there are so many more options to live happily ever after nowadays. Still, that concerns many people, who have been wrongly promoting marriage as the right answer to everything—from financial health to mental health.
I have nothing against marriage. I’ve done it twice, once when I was ridiculously young —that didn’t last very long—and again in my 30s, which lasted 14 years and brought me two wonderful sons.
But it didn’t last “until death,” which is what society has expected since people started putting a ring on it. That basically means one of you has to die in order for your marriage to be a “success.” Even if the marriage has long been loveless, sexless, or full of anger and contempt.