Understanding the Ways of the World

Picture if you will that you have just completed your second, but most important, formal ceremony pledging your life and love to the woman of your dreams in front of family and friends and God Almighty. Imagine she looks the most incredible she has ever looked that day and you feel pretty special yourself. Picture the majority of the people that are important to both you and your loved one there, congratulating you and wishing you well. This is the person you want to spend the rest of your days with. The two of you are actively in the planning stages to figure out what that means to you and how you can accomplish it together.

Imagine leaving on your honeymoon, which is a small, short event fit in between activities in your separate, non-married lives. During this time, you spend a ton of time together, celebrate your marriage, and start looking to the future in earnest. You have wonderful, quiet moments to yourself, you see a lot of nice sights, and you continually renew your vows to one another in a variety of spoken and unspoken ways.

And then, a little over a week later, you get to drop off this wonderful woman to whom you have pledged your life at the curb of an airport Departures area, because all of the lots are full and you can't find a parking place, say your goodbyes in the car, and then drive to work for the rest of the day.

Oh, and then you don't get to see this woman again for at least a month, but maybe more, as the two of you try to figure out when next you can see one another.

Imagine that you then get to deal with all of the post-marriage issues separately, like sending out thank yous, changing your name, working on immigration, starting to go through and pack up your life for an eventual move, etc. Imagine if, instead of looking into your loved one's eyes, you got to look at emails, phone receivers, and IM text after this most important event in your life and the loving honeymoon time together.

*sigh

To say that it sucks donkey kidneys is, shall I dare, a bit of an understatement.