by Sarah Latendre

Created on: September 27, 2008   Last Updated: May 25, 2011

"Where's the ring, is there a rock on that finger yet missy?" I smiled and somehow managed to fake a giggle as our neighbor cornered me in my driveway. Curiously, she looked at my finger as she did on a weekly basis. "That man better get his act straight" she stated as I tried and escape into the house. That's my everyday, and more than likely every young woman's day as she enters into any mature relationship that's longer than three weeks. At  age twenty-four and in an incredibly happy and committed relationship with my partner, I have heard just about every line in the book. It's incredibly sweet to have people so interested, but is it this interest and constant conversation starter that is pushing other women my age down the aisle a little too prematurely.

It's stuck in every young girl's head when they are young, the ultimate day of their life will be their wedding day. The Little Mermaid married her prince, and Belle finally tamed that Beast into slipping a ring on her finger. It's as if marriage is the key to happiness. As we grow up, we think about these days. We date in hopes of finding our sweetheart. We swear we are in love forever at the age of 14. We look at wedding photos and imagined our face in the picture instead of the actual brides.

I came from a small Ontario town, where life is pretty simple, plain, and on most days boring. The main thing to do for entertainment is for a man to go find a woman and a woman to hook onto a man. I looked on my facebook the other day; so many peers with whom I went to school are either married or engaged with one on the way. Not saying this is bad, not saying they aren't in love, just possibly saying that the feeling at our age of being a princess for a day is a little more motivation to speak the words "I Do" than true commitment. And for the guys, it's the right thing to do once you have a little one on the way. It makes you an honorable guy, right? Plus, if it doesn't work divorce it always an option.

When I moved up west a little closer to Toronto, I realize that not much differed. Life is ultimately about finding love, no matter where you are or how old. Even more so with youths in society aging as if they are in dog years, it's no wonder we are seeing that marriage is also something that is being done at such an early age. I watched a show on MTV the other night called Engaged and Underage. The couple was in their late teens and planning the wedding

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