I always treasure trips to JB’s warm, welcoming childhood home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Each time we stay over I learn more about the younger, sometimes rebellious and always adorable version of John Benner Peterman III.
The future of the Unites States Military! (I guess he always knew)
On our last visit home, JB’s mother handed me a timeline that she had saved from one of his precious assignments during freshman year of high school. As expected, he scored 15/15. Aside from his A+ grade JB had perfectly projected his future, or at least thus far. For one of JB’s major milestones, he predicted that he would be a married man by the age of thirty. Remarkably, three days after our wedding, on June 23, 2015, my groom will turn the big three zero.
JB’s milestones- so far, so good.
My future mother-in-law allowed me take home this piece of paper as a reminder of her son’s goals. Although I certainly cherish JB’s life predictions, I do hope he will “be happy with family” before the age of fifty as documented on the lifeline. As of matter of fact, I will make sure he is.
I revisited JB’s lifeline earlier this week as I began to think about age and the modern day perception of when couples should marry. When I look back on my grandparents weddings, I almost cannot believe that they were wed in their early twenties, if not before. I will be a bride at twenty-four, which seems to be very young compared to the current trend of marrying and starting a family well after college, building a career and years of living together.
As I fall more in love with JB everyday and smile over the excitement of exchanging vows with my best friend, I have learned to tune out comments about age as they are insignificant to our story. As a young bride-to-be I can attest that age is truly just a number. Some of the happiest couples like my mother and father found each other in their early years of junior high school. Others, find true love in their later years of life. It doesn’t matter when, it hardly matters where, and it only matters WHO you marry.
