17.
“I’m the child that got married in this story. I was 16 when I met my future husband. He was 21 and had spent two years in the military during the Vietnam War. Now, he was in the Chicago Police Academy, waiting to graduate. We met when I was working a summer job because he used to work at the same place before going into the army. He invited me to lunch and impressed my 16-year-old self to no end. We started dating, which my mom hated. He was too old for me, and she was prejudiced because he was Italian and we were Irish. When I turned 18, he proposed, and we set a date for marriage.”
“My mom said I could go to Europe if I canceled our wedding plans. Nope! We had a beautiful wedding in 1970 and are still married, 54 years later, with two kids and four grandchildren. My husband retired from the Chicago Police Department after 31 years of service with honors and decorations. Before my mom died, she told me I had made the best decision all those years ago and how proud she was of both of us.”
—Anonymous, Minnesota