For a long time I comforted myself in the fact that the only people my age who were getting married were Mormons. That lasted for a few years. Then I got older, and the non-Mormons started getting married. 

Once the non-Mormons started getting married I comforted myself in the fact that the these non-Mormons were the type to marry young. That they were religious, or marrying their high school boyfriends, or that they were just more mature than I was- ready to raise children, deal with health insurance, maintain pristine schedules, and plan meals that extended beyond cereal and take out.

Now I am 24. And the non-Mormons who are getting married are these beautiful women, who are educated and ambitious, and manage to fit an hour of cardio into their daily lives. And they’re marrying attractive, on-the-path-to-being-successful men. The kind who take out the trash, and help do chores, and wash your car on Saturday mornings.

What happened to the universal commitment to be the Peter Pan generation? Who decided to boycott the whole thing and instead be successful and independent and give your parents things to brag about?! I thought the economic disaster excused us from responsibility and bought us extra time to find that special person. 

Because holy crap just thinking about the financial aspect of marriage means that I won’t be getting married for decades- I mean isn’t being broke part of being in graduate school? I’m still on my parents health insurance, I drive a car from high school, and I empty my piggy bank to find change for vending machines. None of these characteristics scream ‘ready to get married.’

However, they do culminate and leave me in shock and awe when I read that another attractive young couple is getting married and ‘settling down.’ AND they’re happy about it- and they seem qualified. They bake pies, and host couples game night, and the thought of having to regularly feed a child doesn’t induce a panic attack.

These people are impressive- they don’t take up excuses- they don’t accept putting off their life because of the economy. I seriously want to join their club.