The always cuttingly sharp Cate left this comment, and I thought it deserved to be shared. This is absolutely how I think about the process of getting married looking back. I feel, for example, a million times more prepared for the emotional process of becoming a parent after the process of becoming a wife:
The process of getting wed is a microcosm of your life together, with concentrated patches of stress and joy as you work out how to become a family. That’s why it’s a rite of passage. We do ourselves a disservice by keeping quiet about the stress, because the stress is all part of the process that makes us come out stronger and better-prepared to share a life together. Those shouting matches (or however you handle it) are important – it’s a time to work so much out. That’s my take on it, anyway. Not just “it’s ok” but “it happens that way for a reason.”
