Signing for important stuff

Yesterday we had another meeting with Fr. Cletus as part of our wedding preparation. These stints usually last between one and a half and two hours and we are definitely a captive audience (in the literal sense of the word). Still, so far I have appreciated these encounters and the things they are focussing on. In particular, we're supposed to really give thought to what marriage means, what it means to be starting a family (not just with kids, but also as husband and wife) and that you have to continuously work on it. Some of it was "grace of God" propaganda - he really doesn't care much for "psychologists" and "secular humanists" and I felt a bit like a Linux developer at a Microsoft conference - but most of is was very sound stuff. I think some form of pre-marital counseling should be required before they (government) issue you a marriage license. I wonder how this was done in my parent's generation. At our next meeting we'll start with what looks like a 200 question quiz - Scantron and all.

Anyway, we were filling out the marriage application form (I think) where you check of your intention to marry the other person, that you're not being forced into it (shotgun wedding style), that you're not related, etc. and that you intend this to be a life long commitment. It felt great to be able to answer all these things with conviction and without hesitation. Looking back at past relationships and the types of doubts I was plagued with, this has always been one of my worries. What if a get engaged, we plan this huge event, everyone shows up and I'm there in front of the judge/minister looking at my wife and thinking "what the hell am I getting myself into?!?" I am not hesitant at all, probably a lot because of getting older and (I hate using this word) more mature, but mostly because of who I'll be getting married to.

So while I have signed important documents before - I've bought a couple of cars and I have bought a house (I doubt that you sign and initial as many documents as when you're buying a house) - this is so far the most important one but also the only one I signed with the least hesitation (or buyer's remorse :-).