Voices
when we were 15 years old. We
were friends for 10 years until...
until we decided no longer wanted
to be just friends. I strongly recommend that best friends fall in
love. Good times will be had by all.
Nevertheless, falling in love
with my best friend did not prevent me from having certain fears
and anxieties about getting married. The nearer Kim and I approached the decision to marry,
the more I was filled with a paralyzing fear. Was I ready? Was I
making the right choice? Was Kim
the right person to marry? Would
she make me happy?
Then, one fateful night,
I shared these thoughts and
concerns with my dad.
Perhaps each of us have moments in our lives when it feels
like time slows down or the air
becomes still and everything
around us seems to draw in,
marking that moment as one we
will never forget.
My dad giving his response to
my concerns was such a moment
for me. With a knowing smile he
said, “Seth, you’re being totally
selfish. So I’m going to make this
really simple: marriage isn’t for
you. You don’t marry to make
yourself happy, you marry to
SETH ADAM
SMITH
HUFFINGTON
11.17.13
make someone else happy. More
than that, your marriage isn’t for
yourself, you’re marrying for a
family. Not just for the in-laws
and all of that nonsense, but for
your future children. Who do
you want to help you raise them?
The nearer Kim and
I approached the decision
to marry, the more I was
filled with a paralyzing
fear. Was I ready? Was I
making the right choice?
Was Kim the right
person to marry? Would
she make me happy?”
Who do you want to influence
them? Marriage isn’t for you. It’s
not about you. Marriage is about
the person you married.”
It was in that very moment
that I knew that Kim was the
right person to marry. I realized
that I wanted to make her happy;
to see her smile every day, to
make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and
my family wanted her to be a part
of ours. And thinking back on
all the times I had seen her play
with my nieces, I knew that she