My youngest son has just informed me that he and his gf are getting married when he comes home on his pre-deployment leave. I KNOW this is not my life, but that girl has the emotional maturity of a 12 year old.

We've all discussed this, her parents are all for it. In their mind that is what a girl does, she gets married (or has a baby with someone). That's her job, her occupation; she finds a man to take care of her. I asked that she get through at least one year of college or working and living on her own. To give her a clue as to how it is to be on your own. Speaking from experience it is extremely difficult to be a military wife, and nearly impossible to be a good one. Add to that the fact that she has had such a sheltered and skewed up bringing I don't know where this will end up.

He was offered a very prestiguous duty, which would only advance his career both in the military and out. The only catch, he had to remain unmarried for the next three years. PERFECT I thought! He's safer, advancing in his choosen field, in the mean time she could go to college and she'd be just about finished when that duty ended. I would throw a parade for their wedding!

He called to say he was going to turn that opportunity down and that he was getting married. This one decision has made his career more difficult and his personal life. He's smart and has a good head on his shoulders.

Isn't it supposed to be a happy day when your first child gets married?