Butterflies in My Stomach

I think I'm overly idealistic when it comes to marriage. Perhaps I am heavily influenced by the romantic story of how my parents came together. And watching all those chick flicks didn't help much either.

As such, I would never consider walking down the aisle with a guy unless he can give me butterflies in the stomach.

However, talking with friends prior to their marriage seems to indicate otherwise.

"Am I marrying him because of love? Love ah?? What is love?"
~ Friend 1

"What is marriage to me? Errr... nothing much lor. It's just a piece of paper to legalise moving on to the next chapter in my life."
~ Friend 2

"I want to experience motherhood and all the joys and pains that it brings. Marriage is the respectable way of doing it."
~ Friend 3

Aisey man, I was aghast to hear all these answers. They sounded so so jaded. So so... practical. What happened to romance? Heck, what happened sharing life's journey with your soulmate - someone to call your own?

I dunno. Maybe I haven't reached that state of jadedness yet - and hence, am still wearing rose-tinted glasses and am still unmarried.

For all I know, my friends may have a valid point of view. Although when my turn to marry comes, I hope I shall not have to say those words in that resigned tone of voice. Realistically speaking, how long does the lovey dovey butterflies in the stomach last anyway? 2 - 3 months? 6 months tops?

I am a believer that if it's there at the start or in the middle, it can be re-enected later on but hopefully, by the time the majority of the feelings fizzles, it would have been replaced by a bond more solid and stable to withstand the test of time.

"Marriage is walking the journey called life hand in hand with my best friend. The one who accepts me for who I am, believes in who I can become and brings out the best in me. And I to him."
~ Coolcat