Quickie Nuptials
Do They Work?
by M.K. Allison
One of my college sisters met a guy a few years ago, who swept her off her feet under the suspicious eyes of all of her friends. They had everything in common. They liked the same music, they read the same books, they practiced the same religion and he never pressured her for sex. When he asked her to marry him after one month and claimed he was on the verge of a lucrative business deal, her sister voiced her suspicions out loud, but my friend wasn’t listening. She was in love…he was in love and both claimed they had “never felt like this before.”
Yet, her sister wouldn’t rest with her suspicions and ended up doing a background check on the guy. She found out that he was already married to two other women in another state and was unemployed. Unfortunately, they had eloped, but the marriage was eventually annulled. These days, more people are meeting and marrying at the speed of lightning and few are doing background checks.
However, in this age of instant marriages and even faster divorces, there are couples who are finding love faster than a speeding bullet and having success. Here are their stories…
Pat was sitting outside her client’s office waiting to see him when he walked out with a guy who was extremely attractive. They were introduced and exchanged business cards. He called her the next day and invited her to dinner. They married four weeks later, and are still married after two years of “marital bliss.”
Anne had to go to the police station to get a police report after a guy ran into the back of her car. She looked at the sergeant sitting behind the desk and he looked at her and it was love at first sight. They married three weeks later, and are still married with two kids…five years later.
Stan was in the laundry room of his apartment building he lived in, dressed in a pair of old shorts and a torn T-shirt, but when a new neighbor whom he called the “prettiest girl” he’d ever seen walked in the door, she took him…old shorts and all. They married one month later in Vegas, and are still together and going strong after four years.
Lisa was standing in a supermarket line when the guy behind her complimented her hair. He ended up escorting her to her car and they met for lunch two days later. He was a prominent doctor and after four weeks of intense dating, they got married on his friend’s yacht. However, they divorced five months after hosting a huge wedding on The Riviera. Ironically, they ran into each other a year later while on vacation in Paris and ended up re-marrying after a month of intense dating.
Nate was buying a Christmas present for his girlfriend and became so enchanted with the saleswoman that he came back the next day to buy another gift for his mother. One date led to another and they married three weeks later in an elaborate wedding. They are still together after five years.
Carol was sitting at a light when a very handsome guy drove up and started flirting with her and asking her to pull over. She refused but was very flattered. At the sixth light, he asked her to meet him at a nearby restaurant and she did. She says, “He looked so good and had so much personality, that I went against my caution button and adhered to my womanly instinct and it was one of the best decisions I made.” They married six weeks later and are still together after three years. She is currently pregnant with their second child.
As I said, some work and some don’t. But I’ll never know because I can’t imagine marrying someone after only knowing him for a short while. But then again, maybe I should re-think that because I dated my ex-husband three years before I married him and it still didn’t work.