The Ups and Downs of Marrying Young

by Jay Rosenshield

I have certain preconceived notions about people who marry their college sweethearts. It’s not fair, I know, but I do.

Such people are conventional, conservative, and timid. They prefer comfort and routine to excitement. In other words, they’re nothing like my wife and me.

Emily and I met on the first day of college. In our freshman dorm, full of Long Island sorority girls and future corporate lawyers, we were the only two people wearing dirty overalls and thrift-store flannels.

I had long hair and played guitar (badly), which was all the justification Emily needed for befriending me. She had dyed streaks of blue into her own hair, and the stories she told reminded me of my own.

Now, at 29, we’re considerably better groomed, and my embarrassment at being one of those people I look down on for marrying early is tempered by the knowledge that I couldn’t imagine someone more perfect for me.