Wife Beautifully Explains What She Means When She Says 'Marriage Is Hard' By Reading Her Husband's Wedding Vows
She admitted that marriage should be about finding someone you can create a long-lasting and fulfilling partnership with.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock For some, hearing the common phrase "marriage is hard" can mean different things. The concept of marriage and dedicating yourself to one person forever can create a skewed idea of what love means and what is expected of two people who enter such a commitment.
In a TikTok video, a woman named Caitlin McGee managed to beautifully put into words how she approached this phrase with her husband at the beginning of their relationship and offered insight into what people should be looking for when they eventually find that person they want to marry.
McGee explained what she meant when she said 'marriage is hard' by reading her husband's wedding vows.
In McGee's video, she stitched another content creator who urged married people to explain what they mean when they say "marriage is hard." In response, McGee admitted that she loves hearing and answering this question because of how much she and her husband discussed it before they were married.
She explained that her view of love wasn't what it is now due to past toxic relationships and how the media she consumed depicted love. She observed that recent generations tend to treat marriage differently than how past generations have — meaning our parents and grandparents.
"We cohabitate a lot longer," McGee said. "Some people who say that marriage is hard, honestly just didn't live together first. But to properly answer this question in my husband's words because I like how he puts words together, I am going to steal from his vows."
Getting emotional as she read the words her husband said to her on her wedding day, McGee continued: "I didn't sit back and take inventory of your qualities and say, 'This one ticks all the boxes. Done.' I was drawn to you and profoundly lucky that you were drawn to me, and we started something that we still work on every day."
McGee's husband remarked that their marriage would get "deeper and wrinklier" as each day passed. He labeled such a partnership as "work" but not in the traditional sense of trudging to a 9-to-5 each morning and watching the clock as the minutes ticked by until he could go back home. But rather, work in the way that artists talk about paintings.
'It's the most important work of my life. Our partnership,' McGee read from her husband's vows to her.
McGee's husband admitted that despite marriage being "work," he's completely in love. He described McGee as, "This kitchen dancing, ABBA humming, tie-dye party-throwing camp counselor that I get to spend my life with."
Getting emotional after reading the vows, McGee explained that many people view effort and work as a bad thing, especially in a relationship. They feel that if they love someone, the rest should just be easy and flow without hitches or problems.
That's not always the case, and it's naive to believe it. But, the love you have for someone else can go a long way if you are both dedicated to being there for each other.
Photo: ArthurHidden / Canva Pro
"It doesn't mean that it's difficult, hard, it means that it's challenging, hard — because life is challenging," she remarked. "But the person that you marry should make all of life a little bit easier."
McGee explained that if you marry someone good, someone who cares about your heart, then marriage won't ever be difficult in the sense that it feels pointless and hard to maneuver. It's a labor of love instead of a burden to bear, and the beautiful aspects of marriage should always fall under the former and not the latter.
By approaching marriage with intention it lays the groundwork for a fulfilling and enduring partnership.
McGee's heartfelt and emotional revelation is all about turning life's challenges into opportunities for growth because the reality is, that the entire point of love is being able to find someone who you want to make that effort for.
Like with anything that is truly fulfilling, the more effort you put in, the greater the rewards you reap.
Marriage requires putting in a bit more work and not expecting everything to just be simple, but the reward is a lifetime of love and companionship.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.