When we are born, we already have a predetermined path. Some people would say that God has a reason for putting you on this earth, and others would say that you are a product of your upbringing and your environment, others would say that it is all in the genes. Some parents plan their child's path directly to college. But is that where life ends? Once you finish college, is your journey over? We are humans, animals to put it simply. Since the dawn of time, we have been looking for companionship, another “soul” closely linked to ours. Sharing a special bond with someone is supposed to be a revelation, but over the centuries, marriage has become so diluted that it has lost its meaning. I would like to explain in this article why marriage is just something that has become another step in life and people jump into it without even thinking twice. How marriage, at one point, was arranged for money, status and power, and love came later. As Americans, we believe in freedom of speech, and I believe we have taken it to the next level and started marrying for love. Then it became the social norm, and I think we started getting married just to get married because it's the next thing to do in life without even thinking about the consequences. This article will dig a little deeper into the history of marriage and why it means so much to people to get married. I will discuss divorce and how it has affected the "modern family", as well as how I believe divorce has become the social norm. Erwin J. Haeberle writes that the way our marriage system was created has a lot to do with policies and procedures. of the Christian church from the medieval period with the establishment of the Protestant reform and finally "the social ...... middle of paper ......e the majority. The hopeless romantic in me would like to think that marriage is forever and happily ever after happens, but the realist within knows otherwise. My parents divorced when I was 10 and my father has been married twice since then, my mother is divorcing from her second marriage, my uncle is divorced, both my aunts are divorced and the same goes for the majority of my parents' friends. Few marriages last, but those that do are unfortunately subject to the tests of time. Works Cited1.) http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/history_of_marriage_in_western.html2.) http://www.divorcerate.org/3.) http://bpp.wharton.upenn. edu/betseys/papers/JEP_Marriage_and_Divorce.pdf4.) http://www.professorshouse.com/Relationships/Marriage-Advice/Articles/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-arranged-marriages/