Thinking of marrying your high school sweetheart? Here are the top pros and cons to popping the question and saying yes to your high school love.
What do Jon Bon Jovi, U2’s Bono, and U.S. politician Sarah Palin have
in common? The question might seem mind boggling, but the answer is
actually pretty simple: they all married their high school sweethearts!
Would you ever have considered marrying your first high school love?
While many brave teens may have popped the question before graduation,
the new trend these days seems to be adults reconnecting with their high
school exes over social media and tying the knot! No matter what
category you fall under, we have some fabulous statistics for you about
marrying your high school sweetheart.
For better or worse, we’re looking at celebrities who married their
high school sweethearts, along with statistics, pros and cons, and all
that good stuff you’ll need to know when considering turning your high
school flame into your lifetime partner.
The lowdown on marrying your high school crush
Before we get into those sumptuous pros and cons, here are 5 quick facts about marriage, divorce, celebrities, and young love.
#1 A 2011 Pew Research Center study states that the
age of the average U.S. bride and groom these days is 26 for women and
29 for men.
#2 A study in the Boston Herald regarding
cohabitation before marriage concluded that only a mere 21% of unmarried
couples would continue living together after a 5- to 7-year period.
#3 A U.S. Census Bureau study, along with many
others, suggests that you reduce the risk of divorce by 24% by waiting
until you are at least 25 years old before getting married.
#4 According to the National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence, 60% of young women *including high school girls* have
been in an abusive relationship. Sound like someone you want to spend
the rest of your life with?
#5 Celebrities are no strangers to marrying their high school lovers. Here are some celebs who’ve popped the question:
– LeBron James married and fathered the children of his high school sweetie, Savannah Brinson.
– Bono and Ali Hewson started their romantic journey at 15 and followed it all the way into marriage!
– Ron Howard married his wife of 30+ years after meeting her in his high school English class.
– Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld married her high school sweetheart in 1987.
– Jeff Daniels married his high school lover.
– Yeah, N’Sync! Joey Fatone married his high school girlfriend after a whopping 12 years of dating!
– Ja Rule *remember him?* married his high school crush, Aisha Murray.
The pros and cons of marrying your high school sweetheart
When it comes to marrying your high school sweetheart, you’ve
probably heard strong opinions on both sides of the fence. On one hand,
how sweet it is to still be with the first person you’ve ever fell in
love with! On the other hand, how would you feel about only having slept
with one person… ever? We’re looking at the pros and cons of marrying
your high school sweetie!
Pros
#1 Your sex life rocks. Since you are likely each
other’s first *or one of your first* sexual experiences, you’ve pretty
much based your entire sexual repertoire off of what you and your
partner get off to. If you are each other’s first partners, it’s
especially fabulous because you’ve gotten to learn everything about what
exactly makes them squirm with pleasure.
#2 Your first love is the deepest. When asked why he
enjoys writing teen fiction books, author John Green said that you
never feel or love as fiercely as you do when you are in your teenage
years. We couldn’t agree more! So why not keep that young love going
into old age with that special someone?
#3 You know each other inside and out. What could
possibly be better than marrying your absolute best friend? You’ve grown
up together, you’ve matured together, and you’ve probably been through
most of the milestones of life together, like getting your driver’s
licenses, turning the legal age, and going to college.
#4 You learn forgiveness. Let’s face it, we make
pretty stupid mistakes when we’re young, and we learn to forgive a lot
because of it. Growing up together not only allows you to mature and
evolve as a unit, but it also gives you a greater sense of forgiveness.
#5 You can be yourself. He saw you when you didn’t
own a flat iron and didn’t fill in your brows, and you’ve seen him with
braces, no job, and a wallet chain. How can things get any worse? We
kid, we kid! When you’ve been with someone since your youth, you get a
greater sense of confidence not only in who you are personally, but who
you’re able to be as a couple. There is a huge sense of comfort and
self-acceptance in being with your first love.
#6 Your anniversaries seem way more awesome. If you
shacked up when you were 15 and you’re now 31, you’ve already been
together for 16 years! Do you know what that means? You’ve officially
been together longer than you’ve been apart, and you haven’t even hit
anywhere close to your 50th birthday!
Cons
#1 Your sex life, part two. All right, so we’ve
heard the joys of your sex life as married high school lovers, but
here’s the downside in an easy threefold explanation:
– If your sex is still bad after the first couple years, it’s not going to get any better. Sorry.
– In a monogamous relationship, you will only have ever had a sexual
experience with one person… ever! This means there are no sex tricks to
bring into the relationship learned from past experiences.
– As with most marriages, sex can become a little monotonous. You’ve
just gotten a head start since you’ve been together since high school.
#2 You don’t always evolve together. Being together
since your teens may lead to a long relationship, but that doesn’t
always mean that you’re evolving together every step of the way. Yes,
your personalities will mesh to a certain extent over the years, but
eventually, you may end up growing apart. Who you are in 9th
grade is most certainly *and thankfully* not who you are at age 27.
Unfortunately, your partner may not always take this evolutionary step
with you.
#3 Unanswered questions. No matter how blissfully
happy you may feel with your partner, unnerving questions may start to
creep in, such as: What would it be like to sleep with someone else? Am I
still into this relationship? I wish I were with someone with bigger
boobs/bigger penis/better body. Am I missing out on the college dating
experiences my friends are having?
#4 Lack of mystery. With all marriages, there is an
element of mystery that takes a nosedive at some point or another. The
difference? Instead of meeting in your 20s or beyond, you met in your
teens, meaning there are basically no stories to share with each other,
because you are probably in them already!
#5 You feel forced to stay together. What seemed
perfect in high school may not feel like the best romantic decision
later in life. That being said, after you’ve already been together for
10 years, there may be a sense of guilt associated with leaving your
life partner. You may even feel forced to stay in your relationship
because of all that you’ve been through together. An unhealthy
dependency may also form with your high school sweetheart.
If you’ve read through our pros and cons of marrying your
high school sweetheart and you’re still convinced you want to marry your
first love, that sounds like a commitment to us! Remember, marriage
takes work no matter when, where, or how you met your mate, but choosing
the right partner is half the battle!
