- My husband and me dated for eighteen years before he proposed to me.
- His procrastination initially irritated me but I now appreciate that we had so much time to get to know each other.
- Anxiety makes it difficult to be comfortable around people.
Brad was the first person I met in April 2012. Brad met me for the first time in April 2012. They decided Brad and me would make a great team and put a Starbucks gift certificate under my door. This encouraged us to go on blind dates.
We ended up having coffee together, and I was thinking. “Well, if this doesn’t work out, I can at least write about it.”I didn’t know it would take me nine years to write about it.
Brad and me spent eight years together, before we were engaged on October 1, 2020. We were married one year later. Yes, Brad did take, as many claimed. “his good old time”Ask me to marry him.
I am a person who loves to plan everything down to the very last detail. Not It’s like waiting to start planning our future together. Brad is a procrastinator who waits and considers every decision before he takes it.
After being married for a few short months, I can look back with gratitude at the fact that Brad and my wedding took nearly a decade. Our years of dating allowed us to get to know one another.
Before we got married, there were many difficult times.
We were together for a while, but we also had to deal with the deaths of three grandparents, losing our jobs, anxiety, and Brad’s retinitis pigmentosa, which can cause vision loss. Brad and me both have a tendency to be vulnerable and we are grateful that we were able to take the time and make it work.
We were also able recognize our differences and to acknowledge them. I am an introvert with generalized anxiety disorder. Brad is more introverted. He prefers hobbies such as card collecting, which are more of a single passion. Brad reminds me that it is okay to take a break from people when I feel anxious or tired.
It is a good idea to put your marriage on hold.
According to a 2017 study,Emory University researchers discovered that couples who dated for between one and two years had a 20% chance of getting divorced. These couples had a 50% lower chance of divorce if they were compared with those who had been together for more than three years.
It turns out Brad and me aren’t the only ones. Another study showed that couples typically wait five years to marry.
This makes sense, especially to Brad and me. We have amazing role models, with our parents being married for over 37 years and 55 years. Brad and me saw the hard work that goes into a long-lasting marriage.
If you know, then you are able to know.
Personally, I would recommend the long-term courtship Brad and myself had. I believe long-term dating is a great way for couples to enter marriage. Although I was impatient at the time and joked with my friends about the long time it took Brad to marry me, I’m truly thankful that we had the opportunity to get to know each others and to share our deepest thoughts. As someone who has anxiety, I feel 100% at ease with Brad.