My intention today was to share the below video Marriage Is… by The Social Series that was brought to my attention by Triple B friends Black & Married with Kids. The Social Series also produced this moving video on fatherhood so I was anxious to see their latest work. Marriage Is… doesn’t disappoint. Don’t believe me, just watch:

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Isn’t the above video inspiring, uplifting, heartwarming and [insert another positive adjective here]? I especially appreciate the inclusion of the widows because it beautifully shows what “’til death do us part” means. Sure, we have no idea whether or not all the couples included are the real deal. Some might just be “faking the funk”. No amount of vetting and discernment on the part of the director could prevent this. And no, not all marriages last. Most grown-ups are well aware of these facts.

However, upon reading the comments on this same video on another popular site, my suspicions were confirmed. There are a lot of miserable people in the world. Check out a snippet of what brought me to this conclusion:

  • Whenever I hear of a long marriage, I think…there is someone (or both) who has put up with a lot of pain and heartache. In most cases, one member of the couple has tolerated things that most of us would not.
  • I thank them for that Disney moment, but the reality of marriage is perpetual disarray and boredom.
  • I have been married four times and was gloriously happy for the first three to four years. THEN the real deal began. I met a woman at the hospital who was celebrating her 50th anniversary that day. She said that she wished she had left her husband 48 years ago.

Oy vey. Rather than bore you with a bunch of trite sayings like “Misery loves company” and such, I just want to share that being engaged has revealed to me how important it is not to believe the hype. [Que Public Enemy.] One person’s marriage and celebration of that marriage can bring out some ugly parts in otherwise pleasant people. I’ve had people tell me I shouldn’t go into debt for one day after asking how my wedding planning is going (for the record, I’m not but I always thank them for their concern) to several other unsolicited bits of advice that would make most cringe. There will always be naysayers to question every major decision in life we make – and thank goodness for them; they help build character — but they shouldn’t be given too much brain space.

I look forward to enjoying marital bliss (and the disappointments, unexpected twists and turns and hard, hard work that our marriage will inevitably bring) with Mr. TK for a long, long time. Many thanks from Triple B to Sabrina Thompson for this sincere piece of work and even for the cynics who just can’t handle the bliss!