Poll on Marriage...

[polishshooter]

Prompted by the many "I love my Wife" postings we've had over the years, as WELL as the stories of DIVORCE directly or indirectly caused by our "Other Love" or our spending of MONEY on our "other Love" (I of course am referring to GUNS.... )

Plus I'd like to see if the old "50% of all marriages end in divorce Myth" has any credence.

This may be too personal for some, so just vote if you would and not talk about it unless you need the "therapy" but I AM curious...

And if you pick #1, tell how many years....

[polishshooter]

I'll start...26 years.

Asked her to marry me 3 weeks after I met her, but BEFORE I found out she liked to hunt deer with her Grandpa, liked to shoot, had no problems with guns AND was a helluva cook...


GOD was I LUCKY!!!!!


And CRAP, I meant to put this in General D....Oooops!

[SouthernMoss]

Originally Posted by polishshooter

And CRAP, I meant to put this in General D....Oooops!

I moved it for you.





I was married for 21 years the first time, although we were more like roommates (two people who happened to live in the same house) the last 10 years.

Been married 3 years this go 'round, and I believe this one's gonna stick!

[rosierita]

i didnt vote, cuz i aint got a wife.

i'm still married to the same man, which will be 17 yrs. in dec. (1st marriage btw)

i'm a statistical impossibility tho. married @ 17 & 5 mos. pregnant at the time. ya know, those marriages NEVER last....

we didnt have a pot to piss in, as the saying goes....

[Nighthawk]

married 24 years first wife some good some bad and some worse.
got 3 wonderful children, 9 grandkids

second marriage 17 years of bliss

[SouthernMoss]

I married young too, Rosie... married at 18, first child at 19 (while a sophomore in college, btw... don't let anyone tell y'all that you can't continue school after having a baby; I only missed one semester. )

But anyway, sounds like you and your husband have what it takes to make a marriage work!



Polish, sounds like you got a real gem! How does she manage to put up with you? (just kidding! just kidding! )


Nighthawk, congrats on the wedded bliss!

[22WRF]

Been married to the same one for 46 yrs. It may work out

[polishshooter]

Well, for one she knows how to nod and act interested when I start my rambling...although I KNOW she's not into the "history" stuff (At Chickamauga I got a LOT of "Oh wow, ANOTHER cannon... ) and one of our BIGGEST fights (that we actually always seem to recall with a chuckle NOW) came on the LONG hot hike with the kids when they were little at Lookout Mountain to see the "Confederate Rifle Pits...." (I'd be DAMMED if I was going to tell her that I was ALSO kinda disappointed when we got there too... ) But it WAS a nice view, so being late getting home after a LONG vacation to see the in-laws was ALMOST worth it....

She ALSO religiously USED to get up EVERY opening day at 4:00am and fix me a nice breakfast, after which she'd say something like "I wish I was going with you" to which I would reply "NEXT year we get you your license again..." but every year she declines....UNTIL she didn't get up one year and I got my first buck, so NOW it's "If I sleep in, you always GET one.... so she NOW sleeps in "just for me...."

She's put up with all my vices, from the IPSC days, to redoing the old wood Lyman (Honey, is there SUPPOSED to be this much water inside the boat? ) my NASCAR racing "career" when she was my ONLY pit crew ("DON'T yell at me, you only told me to put the valve cover back ON, you NEVER said to TIGHTEN the screws!!!!" ) to my current Cruffler vice (she even stayed ON me this time to RENEW on time!) and even KNOWS the difference between MOST of the rifles hanging on the racks in our bedroom(as long as the Savage 220 single 12 is the FIRST one on the rack so she knows which one to grab when I'm "on the road..." and the Ruger .22 is under HER side of the bed....) And never ONCE has complained of the "Soviet/Czarist" motif of her "beaudoir..."

Yeah, she's a gem....I think the SAME thing MANY times every day...HOW does she put up with me?????

[berto64]

Never been Hitched, and have 4 great kids. The oldest is 29 & the youngest turns 20 later this month. 3 grandkids so far.

While we were together, Robin & I figgered why mess up a good thing with a wedding. That was in a different life, I'd never live that way again.

[rosierita]

Originally Posted by SouthernMoss

I married young too, Rosie... married at 18, first child at 19 (while a sophomore in college, btw... don't let anyone tell y'all that you can't continue school after having a baby; I only missed one semester. )

But anyway, sounds like you and your husband have what it takes to make a marriage work!



Polish, sounds like you got a real gem! How does she manage to put up with you? (just kidding! just kidding! )


Nighthawk, congrats on the wedded bliss!

yeah, i think so too somo! esp. now that we have an understanding about his family.

there have been times when i was ready to throw in the towel, back when he was forcing them on me. (his mother held a KNIFE to my throat 1 time while i was pregnant w/ ashley & told me that me nor my child would ever be a pile of sh!t in her eyes. not exactly someone i wanna hang around.)

anyhoo ~ last night we were hanging around the mall, waiting to meet up w/ some tenants & they had an excellent sale on pillows, so we bought some. you should have seen that old biddy's face when she called me by my maiden name & i said nothing to correct her.... & when she recognized her mistake, troy piped in w/ "well, we should have been keislers anyway" that lady looked at us like we were crazy & i replied w/ "when we got married, he should have taken MY name, not the other way around" & that lady just sat there like . she was speechless.

[polishshooter]

You know, that "no pot to pee in" I THINK has a lot to do with staying TOGETHER, sometimes MONEY gets in the way, not necessarily NO money...when we married we BOTH had debts, BOTH came from "never knew we were poor" families, and PAID for our own wedding even, with like a 27% interest LOAN....

Then I was unemployed in the 90s, and had to take the job with the paving company, me working 70 or 80 hours/week in the summer, coming home dirty and smelling like I showered in #2 Diesel, getting layed off in the winter, then SHE working 70-80 hours to make ends meet, no insurance, NO extra money, with kids in school, if she was ever going to chuck it and move on it would have been THEN (she DID work for an attorney at the time, mainly on DIVORCES, and I used to joke to our friends that she probably had ours typed up in her desk drawer, and she'd reply, "NO, silly, it's on a DISC... "...but we made it and I think it made us STRONGER....

[Huck Finn]

I waited untill I was 35, she was 29, no kids (for either of us), no ex's. Smartest thing I ever did! P.S. Still no kids. When people ask the wife why we don't have any kids, she tells them she aint done raising me yet. Apparently she wants to see how I'll turn out first, so it aint looking good for any wee ones!

[Pistolenschutze]

I too got very, very lucky but it was the second time around; it will be 30 years of a great marriage come next February for Sandy and me. My first marriage ended after only five years. It was a typical story: Back home from Vietnam, head not screwed on very straight, a lack of patience on both sides, and an elemental incompatibility neither of us saw at the beginning of the relationship. With Sandy though, it was quite different. I met her first as the secretary to one of my primary customers when I worked in the title insurance business in Fresno, CA in the 70s. She had just come off a rather unhappy divorce from her first husband (a lazy-assed, draft-dodging, SOB), we hit it off immediately (both physically and emotionally), and the rest is history. As for the firearms part, Sandy had never had any experience with guns prior to meeting me, but fortunately she was willing to learn. One of our first dates was spent at the local range teaching her how to shoot a Colt 1911 automatic, a pistol she loves and shoots to this day. We had a number of serious but very thoughtful talks before we decided to actually marry since neither of us wanted to make another mistake. I made it clear that firearms were a very important part of my life and if she married me, she must be willing to put up with (even then!) my rather large arsenal, my range time, and my hunting trips (on which she was welcome to come if she liked). Guns and me were a package deal! Sandy responded that she felt the same way about her sewing (she still sews professionally part time and does beautiful work), and I certainly had no problem with that! Sandy has never raised an objection to my shooting hobbies in all the years we've been together, and though we have never talked about it, I think she understands why I feel that way in light of my Vietnam experience. In fact, she found she actually enjoyed shooting handguns and goes out with me to the range quite frequently. We have exactly the same view about firearms for self-defense, so when we moved to Colorado and I got my CCW, she was all for it though she did not choose to get one herself ("I don't need one dear; I have you!" ). She told me just a few weeks ago how much more secure she feels when I'm along when she goes shopping after dark.

[Red Neck64]

People like me are in the lead on this poll.I was Married three times and still love all three of them girls.Hay good looken what you got cooken,old "Hank Willams" did this to me!

[ryan_marine]

I am in need of therapy... Second thought don't give me therapy... Froggy and I are going to be calling it quits... It was a good 3 years but this fourth was just too much...

Ray

[pickenup]

First and only wife, more than 30 years, and counting.

She knew from the get go, that I loved guns and motorcycles.
She BOUGHT me a gun, the first year we were “dating.”
She STILL loves to ride as much as I do.

As a youngster, I traveled almost every summer. I’d quit my job, or sell my business, and go. Sometimes with a destination in mind, sometimes not. The time frame for a destination was “sum - sum - sum(mer)-time.”

The method of transportation varied from year to year. Motorcycle one year. Hitchhiking the next. An “all summer” pass on Greyhound was a GREAT way to see the country one year. We had some “nice” camping/backpacking gear at the time. A van one year, used as a camper, while more expensive, was living the life of Riley. We could go anywhere we wanted, and did. Drug that trip out to a year and a half.

The wife was the first lady that didn’t make excuses for staying put. She was just as eager to go as I was. After a couple of years of her “tagging along” I figured, what the heck. Tied the knot, and still traveled for 4 more years. Then came kids. No more summers off.

I’m still waiting to see if it’s going to work out between us.

[Marlin]

Sorry to hear your news, Ryan. God's blessings to each of you. Perhaps He'll even figure a way to success with you.

I have been married previously, twice lasting 18 years each, 3 children and 2 children, respectively, and once in a very unfortunate rebound/desperation situation that was proven a horrible mistake almost instanta. Lasted only a few months and ended after learning that my children were being mistreated and abused, mentally and physically, daily.

When SoMo and I met and it became apparent that the Good Lord MUST have had a hand in that meeting and the instant chemistry, I think we were both of a mood that it would NEVER happen again. There will be no Spouse..... Well, you all know how that turned out. We initially met on TFF, developed our relationship on TFF, and then the Good Lord stepped in and countless things, some little and some very large, occurred that could have had no origin but through His miraculous intervention.

I have learned more about people, relationships, sharing, love, giving and just plain getting along in the last three years than in my entire life previously. I sure wish that I'd known there was something better than I had ever had dreamed of previously. It might have eased the heartbreaking years. The fantastic good that came of it is my five wonderful children, four grandchildren and one rather new 1½ year old great grandson. They more than overcome the stress and strain of those times.

I thank God every day, many times a day, for bringing SoMo and me together. Such a gift as our love and relationship can only come from Divine Intervention and Sustenances.

[Pistolenschutze]

Of course, on the other side of the coin, there is that old logic statement concerning marriage:

Premise 1: Marriage is an institution.
Premise 2: Marriage is love.
Premise 3: Love is blind.
_______________________________
Therefore: Marriage is an institution for the blind!

[HiSpeed]

.Max and I will have been married 42 years Thanksgiving day. She shoots with us on TUESRANGE days. I have a great deal to be thankful for.

[Marlin T]

Nine and a half years, and its just like we are still newlyweds. This is the example of a perfect life.

Divorced once, both of us

[SouthernMoss]

Originally Posted by ryan_marine

I am in need of therapy... Second thought don't give me therapy... Froggy and I are going to be calling it quits... It was a good 3 years but this fourth was just too much...

Ray

I'm so sorry to hear that, Ray.

[rosierita]

Originally Posted by ryan_marine

I am in need of therapy... Second thought don't give me therapy... Froggy and I are going to be calling it quits... It was a good 3 years but this fourth was just too much...

Ray

i'm sorry to hear that too ray.

[ryan_marine]

The one thing I can say about this is that we are atleast being adults about it. We have both see our share of ugly divorces. We both know that things should be settled like adults.

Ray... (The soon to be single again guy)

[johnston3407]

I had two long term girfriends, but only one wife. Twenty years and counting. Can't imagin it any other way. I've raised her well and she still puts up with my s#@*. So I think I'll keep her.
But have you heard the world's shortest fairy tale
Young man askes girl to marry him, she says no and he lives happily ever after.

[southernshooter]

I ain't never been married. I haven't been able to find a women that will put up with me for more than a couple months