I assume his inner whisperings are making similarly self-protective calculations. The material advantages to him in the relationship remain what they were. He is surely aware that he could get someone younger and more 'genetically relevant,' to whom his reproductive apparatus might well attract him; but other survival and social considerations enter the picture. His to-be wife is 'somebody.' Through her he is too.
We have friends who, after their last child went off to college, got the itch. Mainly, he did, but there was a neighbor she had had her eye on...
So he started doing groupies. (He's a well-known guy, had a choice.)
She and the neighbor went at it for a while. It ended. He was still doing groupies.
The next thing everyone knew, our friends were back together.
I asked him what happened.
He said, "I would wake up in the morning next to people who didn't know anything."
His wife was also part of his link to the social world, the life, he liked and was used to. And a nurturer. And gives great dinner parties.
And they really did like each other, and had never stopped liking each other; and of course had the children. Now they have a darling grandchild.
I don't mean our friends who are marrying don't love each other. They do. Which is a good thing, since it works out well for them that they do.... |
