While looking for an icon for
The Myth of Happy Marriages, I came across the above visual. It says, "By the age of 16, 80% of people have met who they are going to marry."
I have no idea where this statistic came from. A quick Google search implies that it's urban legend, which seems (thankfully) likely.
I think it's precious when married couples have known each other since they were really young. My friend's parents were next-door neighbors since birth and grew up together. If memory serves, they dated through high school, broke up to do their own thing for a few years, then got back together and got married.
As adorable as I find stories like this, part of their cuteness lies in their rarity. I presume that the couples in this 'statistic' aren't all supposed to have relationships like that of my friend's parents, but still.
If my calculations are correct, my parents met when my father was 24 and my mother was 31. But they also met when my Illinoisan father was studying abroad in Japan, so it would have been a bit difficult for them to meet at 16.
To be completely honest, I really hope that this statistic is urban legend. I think back to all the guys that I knew at 16, and I can't imagine marrying a single one. Even if they grew up and changed a LOT. And if it did happen, I would be a little weirded out.
Then again, life is full of surprises. So who knows?
How old were you when you met your spouse or life partner? How old were your parents?Image Source
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Comments (48)
I met my husband when I was 14. :)
My parents met at age 10. I haven't met my husband yet (I'm in my 20s).
18. I met my husband in college.
I was 18 and my husband was 21.
I had Tupac's poster on my wall and I thought he was hot but I didn't think of marrying him. the other boys in my class were twerps, who I had no interest in compared to Tupac. no way was I marrying those boys. Tupac died later. it wasn't meant to be.
I met my fiance when I was 21.
I was 16, and my (future) wife was 15.
Met mine when I was 21, Married him a 15 months later and its been an adventure every day since =)
That is a thing of contention between us. I believe we met when I was 18 and she was 17 at a school function. But she claims she met me two years earlier in my parent's basement while she was dating one of my brother's friends. We have "argued" it ever since.
Met my hubs to be when I was 14, I'm now 20.
My parents grew up together as neighbors in Bulgaria and my mom said she actually hated my dad for a long time because he was annoying (lol). They both fled the country at around 12-13 years old due to persecution from the communist government. My dad ended up in Turkey with his family. My mother's family went to Turkey then Italy and finally settled in America. While she was in college, my mom went back to visit extended family in Turkey and re-met my dad. They got married and he moved to America. Crazy, huh?
I met my fiance in college when I was 18.
Parents met when they were 17 or 18. I'm not exactly sure, just know they got married at 19 and 20, and it was after my mom dropped out of high school.
18. We met freshman year of college. My parents met when they were in diapers and then again later in high school. My husband's parents met in high school. Maybe that statistic isn't too off?
I was 18 when I met my future husband 4 years ago. My mom was a freshman when she met my dad who was a senior.
hubby to be, I was 19, him 18.
It seems so weird to imagine any of my current friends and acquaintances could possibly be my future wife. I'm only 22 and I don't know when my parents met; I do know they got married in their late 30's though.
In life, I supposed we can only hope for a bit of serendipity.
I met [and began dating] my husband when I was 15 and he was 17. It's worked out so far - 9 years and counting. =)
make that statics 18-19 I would believe it, we were 18 & 19.
I was 16 when I met my boyfriend. He was 26.
I am now 25 and couldn't be happier with him.
My mom was 15 and my dad was 19 in 1981.
My parents didn't officially meet until they were in their early 20s--but my mom was a friend of my dad's best friend's brother, so she used to be in the same house as him when they were kids.
I was 13 and my husband was 15 when we met.
I met my husband at 16 during a marching band competition. I didn't pay much attention to him, I just showed his school where their changing rooms were and led them to the field. We met again on Xanga when I was 22, realized we lived pretty close to each other, and we married six months later. We have a four-year-old boy now, and we just celebrated our six-year wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.
Sounds pretty accurate actually, maybe a few years older. I
I met my boyfriend when I was 15, and never in a thousand years thought we'd ever be friends, let alone start dating, 7+ years later.