Dramarama

Feeling blue about being almost 30 and not quite married. Still wish you were, say, 25? Fear not, my aging friends, neither of those things is what they are cracked up to be. To illustrate this, I will relate an example from my own life. Well, from the life of my 25 year old cousin and his wife of less than a year, as told to me by my hairdresser who is dating another cousin of mine who happens to be the brother of the 25 year old cousin. If you think that is confusing, I have about 15 other cousins I could throw into this story. I will give them all fake names in this retelling for no real reason since Joanne, her sister and Volodiya don't know these people. (Who else reads this blog? I think it might see some action once in awhile from the random people who read mine, but not my sister because she is offended by the language. Fuck that!)

Mark and Alyssa were married last year in April. They are both about 25 now. They had both graduated from college, Mark with a degree in English and his teaching certificate, Alyssa with a degree in God knows what. Since then, Mark has been playing football for a semi-pro team (?) and Alyssa has been working at some stockbroker place maybe, following a longish stint at Alamo Rent-a-Car. Alyssa lived with Mark's parents while Mark was in and out of town with football games. They moved to their own apartment a few months ago.

Calia, my hairdresser, told me on Saturday that Mark is moving to Idaho to play football. He will be there for seven months, at the end of which, he may or may not be picked up by a pro team. Alyssa is staying here and moving in with her sister, in fact, sharing a room with her sister, to save money while Mark is gone.

Mark will not be getting paid while he is at football camp. Alyssa makes enough money to cover all of their bills. Pay attention. This is where is gets a bit interesting. Mark and Alyssa have completely separate finances. He pays all his own bills, she pays all of hers. Mark has to get a night job while he is there so that he can make his car payment, etc. Calia said that Alyssa is always saying to Mark, "You owe me money..." Calia said, "Whatever works for them." I told Calia that it remains to be seen if it actually does work for them since they have been married less than a year. Mark will miss their one year anniversary. Alyssa has no plans to visit him while he is gone.

To be fair, Alyssa is supposed to be saving money so that they can buy a house when Mark returns from Idaho. They are assuming he won't make it and will come back home to teach high school and coach football. Alyssa wants to have a baby as soon as Mark comes home, but Mark would like to get a job first.

My prediction: divorce.