When I was much younger, back in my teens, I imagined meeting the girl of my dreams, and to eventually live happily ever after as a couple. Such is the idealism of youth. Such is the naivete of storybook romance. Such is the cause of so many broken relationships. Looking back, a marriage is not an endpoint, but an evolutionary tale as one journeys through life. It is also a cautionary tale for those who dare to impose a romanticized agenda on it, and in the process suffer the consequences of broken dreams and mangled relationships.

The girl I met when I was 17 became my wife when I was 28. And that was many, many moons ago. She is no longer the person I met back then. Indeed, if she ever was. But then neither am I the boy she met when she was 17 (we’re the same age). If I ever was. Just as the world itself doesn’t stand still, neither do our lives. For better or for worse, we change. We evolve. And it’d be lottery-ticket worthy if two individuals experience the same life transitions every step of the way. We are, after all, individuals, each with our own story and our own baggage. Change, as the saying goes, is constant.