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Why Marriage at 23 Worked for Me

It's famously risky, but getting married young worked for one Californian

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 1, 2011 3:56 PM CDT

(Newser) – You can’t trust statistics. They’ll warn you of the high risk of divorce that comes with marrying young—but that didn’t stop Katie Arnold-Ratliff. At 29, she’s been married 6 years to a man she met at 15, and they couldn’t be a better match, she writes in Slate. Arnold-Ratliff gave up the college of her dreams to stay near her then-boyfriend, and the two “became 20-year-old senior citizens” when they settled into a home together. Still, it hasn’t always been easy.

“By the time I hit my ripe old mid-20s, I was already heading for divorce,” she writes. For reasons that are “lost to history,” arguments flared, and she “said flatly that I wanted to end our marriage.” She headed across the country for grad school with a goal: "I would go into the world alone and grow up, and then see if the grown-up me still loved him.” After several months, she drove back home and found him again. “I'm not saying I take him for granted. I'm saying he's the bedrock of my life.” Click through for the full article.

It may not fit the trend, but marriage at a young age worked for Katie Arnold-Ratliff.
It may not fit the trend, but marriage at a young age worked for Katie Arnold-Ratliff.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
ElleMonkey
Oct 3, 2011 8:06 AM CDT
I'm 24.. got married last year at 23... and I catch hell all the time about being a "child-bride" and "way too young"... My marriage sounds a lot more stable than hers was and her article was a little dumb, but I think the overall message is worth hearing - When you know you found that person, why wait?
oldgoat
Oct 2, 2011 8:05 AM CDT
23 is early to be married?  Heck it appears that she lived with him since 20 and when things started getting a little tough wanted to run.  By 23 you should have some sense of responsibility and knowing what you want.  I do have several aunts and uncles that married in their teens and stayed together for over 60 years.  Age isn't the problem as much as wanting to work at the marriage to keep it together.  It seems like now they want their independence and space and are more prone to bailing during the rough spots and more likely to take each other for granted.   What a stupid story.
shouldbeeditor
Oct 1, 2011 9:12 PM CDT
Waste of life with this one too, who cares, the girl obviously took him for granted and then when she found out the world isn't fluffy and nice she went running back.  What a skank.
 

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