The Phenomenon of the "Couple"

Modern day Love is a trip. I grew up seeing my parents/ grand parents/ great grandparents get married young and stay together; showing me the degree of commitment that it takes for Love to work. I navigated my way through life following the vintage concepts from my "love coaches", and looked for the same qualities in modern man. I've been fortunate enough to find Love early, but lost it due to a skewed perception of loyalty and just being plain 'ole fed up. Luckily, I've stumbled upon it again...

putting me in the delightfully drunken state that only Love can bring. Even though my male muse is 4 years my junior, he harbors the traditional views that I do and we share a connection that can't be ignored. Seeing that I always dated older men, I naturally had my hesitations, but rule #1 when it comes to Love is to follow your heart. This is where mine lead me.

Living in a major city, you notice that most people take advantage of the options they have. Bouncing from situation to situation may be ideal to the freshly jaded, but after the stench of bitterness lifts, lonliness sets in. And your longing for something more begins. The problem with finding Love these days is the lack of faith. Which is the simple concept of believing in something that you can't see. It's obvious that most people's experience with sharing themselves and trusting the wrong people have given them the impression that LOVE is to blame. Instead of the bad choices that they have made in regards of who to trust. Love has played the bad guy for too long, being casually bad mouthed at bars and dinner parties alike. And used as a tool of manipulation. Gaining the reputation of being an art form that is lost, fabricated, and over rated. 

I can walk into any given social structure in any given city (sons boyfriend) and get approached by a man who will spend $10 and 20 minutes telling me how my relationship isn't "real" because it hasn't hit the year mark yet. After displaying my amusement and slight irritation on his comment, my next question is: how could we ever get to the elusive year mark if every time I go out, I encounter someone who wants me to disrespect my relationship? With there being such a "shortage" on "good girls" I should be encouraged, instead of the opposite. Unfortunately, this is the kind of attitude that "singles" are approached with. 

Even though I am in a committed relationship, (which includes sharing ideas, life long plans, and soon enough a space and finances) being "attached" isn't respected by many. According to the government, with their intrusive questions on marital status on any given form, no extra provisions are kept into consideration for unmarried couples. But don't I still have an responsibility to someone else? Don't I have to consider and respect my boyfriend? Does my personal plans not effect him and therefore have to be discussed? And do we not both depend on each other for some type of support? Yes. But to them, and many nay-sayers I will remain single... until I walk down that isle. 

So like with most things in my life, I carry the opinion of others and my personal reality with sarcasm, and use it for my advantage. Respected or not, the phenomenon of the couple is very much alive, and going nowhere!