#soulmates?

There's a couple in our class who are getting married tomorrow. I know I'm about to sound judgmental BUT this is totally unintentional, so here are the bare facts: they met last year during second year medicine and got engaged at the beginning of this year and now, they are getting married. Granted, it is a bit too fast for myself, but they are in the stage of life where such happenings are entirely normally because they are both mature adults. Also, this is ignoring the fact that once you've found 'the one', I don't know why you'd waste any more time and clearly, they have found each other, and there's no denying that they are a perfect fit for each other. So, I'm not trying to sound judgmental at all when I say that for myself, I personally would not marry someone who I have only known for a year.

Especially when I put it into the context of my own relationship. The thought of marrying E. when we had been only going out for a year sends shivers (and not the nice type either) down my spine. I suppose it's because we met while we were still teenagers, barely grown up (and still barely grown up now). But you do a lot of changing in your early twenties and your identity and sense of self is still rather plastic. I happen to be lucky in that E. didn't turn out to be a complete asshole and while he has done some incredibly asinine things during the last five years, I much prefer the person that he is now, compared to who he was five years ago. In the last few years, we've also discovered that we can happily live our own lives, not to take each other for granted and what sort of people we are under stressful situations when we're around each other. Those sorts of things don't come easily when you've only been going out for a short period of time. While I can tell you that the E. of present is as close it gets to being my soulmate, I can tell you that the E. of second year was most certainly not.

I remember declaring to my friends when I was misty eyedetcetecetc, that I had to go out with someone for at least five years and then be engaged for another two before I was assured that I had found the 'right one'. I'll probably regret making such declarations given the fact that most of my friends will probably get married before I do (because of having to finish bloody med school first) and I will consequently become madly jealous. But I think my fourteen year old self had some wisdom there.