new life

I was in a somewhat similar situation many many years ago. we opted for the move in together and pool finances option, cut ties with her family thing. It kinda worked but ultimately failed, I'm happy to say.

And as has been said, whatever time you spend dealign with her family issues now, will be times 2 if you get married, move in.

So, I agree with

- help find her a low cost place to live
- Continue seeing each other.
- Don't get married, don't move in together
 
KaBar
first and foremost you sound like a hard working agressive young man who has achieved much in a short time congratulations. When you marry the girl you marry the family. The scumbag mother is still her mother and that bond is strong. If you marry this girl you inherit her problems. Her problems become your problems because you become one. One in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of society ( and God if you are a believer). Wait.
Also why have a big church wedding. It sounds like the family is going through some awful stuff right now, why would you want to have a party with these people. Emotions are raw there is anger...mix in alchol and your wedding day could be ruined. Wait.
Besides your young. You guys have time. and trust me when I say this..life can get waaaay tougher than what you two have right now it seems hard to believe but it is true. Wait.

also check your rep points I sent you a little message there also (click on user cp up in left corner)

best of luck bud

Ren
 
The real question here is the girl. Your old enough to make your own decsions and sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and a good start in life. She is very young though and sounds like she's had a hard go of it. In a few years she may feel like she missed out on her "fun time" and thats where the problems can start. Make sure she is ready for a life long commitment. And consider a prenup. While you may think your assets are modest they are considerable enough that I would not enter in to a relationship with someone who does not have equivlent assets with out protecting mine. 1/2 of what you have is a lot more than zero. The houses may well go up considerably in value too. If it does not work out she could walk away with a nice payoff for a year or two of marriage. That being said I got married at 22 while my wife was still in college and was dealing with all the family BS too. Every one told me I was to young, her family's problems will be mine etc. etc etc. That was ten years ago and my only regret is that we waited six years to start our family. (of course we both had nothing so no prenup needed) I'm going to disagree with most of the posters and say if you love each other and she has her **** together go for it. I would not recomend living together though, as I consider it a moral issue.

Patrick
 
While I hear the excellent advice that you are getting from everyone, I also remember that I married at 23 and have, on the whole, had a very rewarding parthership of nearly 38 years with my wife. Yes, there have been problems. You find me a marriage of that duration that has never encountered problems and I'll tell you that it is a fable. But do walk in with your eyes open and your brain working, not your pecker.
 
Yeah, wait. Dont move in together either. If your religious pray about it...pray about it even if you arent God helps quite a bit. So anyway hope it all works out.

Brandon
 
I knew a guy who got married at 20... divorced at 21. You may be mature enough for marriage but there are few 18 year old girls that are ready to settle down for good. Imagine paying alimony by this time next year. And for the next 45 or 50 years possibly.

I also knew a couple of guys who basically got hustled - got someone pregnant and were suddenly the sole breadwinner for a whole prefab family. Silenthunterstudios' advice to wear a jimmy hat is of the utmost importance.
 
well, i have considered the "going crazy" in a few years. when i met her her parents had her so restricted that she was not alowed to wear pants, make up, or cut her hair (its currently down to her butt :D) but all that was a religious shroud to hide all of there affairs and to act godly.

i have thaught about and will have a prenup. quite a while ago, right after i asked her to marry me, we had a problem. her mother called me one day and told me "i know something you dont know" in a mocking voice then she told me "she did something to hurt you and i know ALL about it but i wont tell you"

it took a few days but she convenced me that her mom had herd a rumor about her giving another guy a hand job, i took it seariously. no sweat right? well i droped her off at work one day and out of curosity i called her mother to find out if what she told me was true. her mother insisted that she was not telling me the truth and while giggleing and laughing she told me "im going to wait a couple of weeks to find out if shes going to tell you"

i drove back to her work and made her take her lunch early and tell me what in the hell was going on. she told me that she had met this guy on the bus to our technical school (we both have dual enrolled collage classes, i have two and she has one so she comes in later) i had told her on several occasions to stay away from this guy because i knew what kind of a person he is (gang member and drug user with out a job and 3 kids with diffrent girls all under 17) she said that several weeks before, about a month or so, he started setting with her on the 45 min or so ride and after a while he started putting his arm around her and finally one day he slid his hand up her shirt and started playing with her breast. she told me and insistes to this day that after that she stoped having any thing to do with him once he did that. she also said that the hand job was just a rumor and that never happined.she said that the reasion why she even let him put his arm around her is because i told her not to and that i was being restrictive like her parents were.

that was the most painfull moment of my life.

i drove out to my farm that night and dug a grave in the rain. i was bound and determaned for one of us, me or him, to be put face down in that grave and it sure in hell wasent going to be me.

it took a while before the pain subsided enough to where i got my head on stright, for the first month id have killed him on the spot if i would have had the chance. but im no killer and unless he puts my fiamly or me in danger hes probably safe.
violent-smiley-049.gif
although, givin the chance, i think he would make a nice decoration chained up in my basements eating stale cheatos for the next 50 years of his life but a person can only dream :D

its still painfull when i think about it, i took most of my aggression out training with a local knife fighter while she went to a counselor.

i mean, its not like she slept with him and she did do the right thing by ignoring him once she realized that it went to far. i told her that i was giving her ONE more chance and if she ever did any thing remotely like that again that it would be over faster than any thing that shes ever seen.

of course, i kept it seceret from my faimly because they love her and i care to much for her to tarnash there view of her i chose to suffer in silance then to hurt her more. alough it would have felt alot better to tell somebody that i know i stayed in my self for her sake. my faimly loves her like a daughter.

dont take me wrong, besides this one setback that is FAR behind us our life togeather has been great. we have never had a fight, she has always been caring and has taken care of me when i was sick and shes cheered me up when i was depressed.
 
Kabar,

This girl sounds like she has a lot of growing up to do still. The fact that she let him put his arm around her just because you told her to avoid him is a bad sign. I just get the feeling that you're pretty much taking daddy's place. Rather than being seen as a husband or boyfriend, you're being seen as an authority figure. And as others have said, once you marry her, you marry the family. That also means you're going to have to deal with all the issues that they cause. My advice would to be hold off on marriage and wait to see how things play out. Both of you are still young, and still have a lot of time ahead of you, and it really sounds like she has a lot of issues she needs to deal with, even if she does think she's ready for marriage. Just my .02 worth...
 
I agree with about 95% of what has already been posted, so if I may summarize....

18-20 is way too freakin' young to marry. If the love is real, it will wait.

Consider the dirtbag family. consider possible traits from growing up in the dysfunctional family, NOBODY gets out of undamaged. Not saying she'll be just like POS mommy, but how IS she affected, and how will you BOTH cope with those affects? This part requires total self honesty, not some kinda "well, gee whiz she was always neglected so she's a super caring person"

I'm sorry to say it, but we all learn to love and maintain a relationship from our parents, what has she learned from hers, and is she willing to start the learning process over again? Don't exclude the thought of counseling if you go through with things....

Only she can help herself. If she is not willing to find her own place, support herself, get some education, and plan a real future that doesn't include phrases such as "I just want to take care of you, I love children, and want to be a mother", or other sundry excuses there's a damn good chance she's gonna suck you dry mentally and emotionally. It's very tempting to play the knight in shining armor right now, don't.

You're both young with the whole world in front of you. Marriage is something best suited for when it's time to settle down. Consider all the opportunities, adventures, friends you haven't met yet and places you haven't been. Are you REALLY ready to give that up at 20?

and finally.....For goodness sake...for your sake...for the sake of your country and all that is good in this world, wear a freakin' rubber!!!

just for fun...bookmark this thread somewhere, and check it out a few years from now, I bet you'll be surprised.
 
KaBar, I feel sorry for your situation. I think Esav hit the nail on the head and he is so right. On the other hand, feeling sorry for her situation burdens your heart I'm sure. I'm sorry, but if I were your mother, I'd have a constant headache.
 
Lots of good advice here. I'll join my voice to those who have already counseled patience. And prudence (re contraceptives). Your girlfriend's current situation looks to me like a timebomb. If she loves you, she'll wait. If she doesn't want to wait, I think you may need to consider bailing out.
 
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