Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-11-07
why Do People Marry Second Time? :,

why Do People Marry Second Time?
Why do people marry second time?
Considering that statistics show that one
marriage out of twelve ends in divorce, and
that of the remaining eleven two are, per-
haps, blissfully happy, three reasonably con-
tented, and the balance an endurance con-
test, a second marriage is human vagary
that fills us with awe and wonder.
1t is easy enough to understand first
marriage. 1t is the optimism of youth, the
desire Of youth for romance and adventure
1t is the binding faith Of youth to achieve
whatever it wants. It Is the ignorance OF
youth that has no conception of the dangers
it dares.
second marriage can offer none Of these
excuses, It has experience that disillusions
matrimony. 1t is conversant with the per1ls
that ,beset the holy estate. 1t knows the pc
culiar power that a husband and wife nave
to make each other wretched.
One would think that men and women who
have happily married first time would not
venture to marry second time, because they
would feel that the gods had bestowed upon
them their share Of domestic bliss, and that
they could not hope to again win prize in
the matrimonial lottery. Above all, one
would think that those who had been unhap-
PLY married would be like the burnt child
who breads the fire, and that they would
not be foolhardy enough to embark again
on venture similar TO the one CnaC nau
proved so disastrous.
This is not the case, however. Whether
people have been happy, or miserable, in
their first marriage does not deter them
from trying it over again. The widowed
seek consolation in another soul mate. The
divorced try their luck once more.
Men and women who have once been mar
ried are far more apt to marry again than
those who have never been married. Nearly
all of the widowed marry again If they can
There are very few widoWers who nave
passed their second summer. Young widows
are proverbially given to matrimony, and
as general thing it is only elderly and
homely ladies who remain faithful to thu
memories Of their dear departed.
Now most of these people were not par
ticularly happy in their first marriage, and
after having reached the safe haven Of single
blessedness after a stormy matrimonial voy-
age, one wonders why they again set sail
on the treacherous sea of matrimony.
Most of them are too old for love and ro-
nance to be an impelling motive to them.
They are done with the dreams and illusions
of youth. In the phrase Of the day they know
what they are going up against, and still
they do it.
Perhaps the real reason that people marry
second time is, first, because they are lone
ly, and secondly because they want a home.
Whatever else marriage gives, or fails to
give, it gives companionship. When man
and woman are congenial, when they have
the same tastes, when they think the same
thoughts, have the same interests, enjoy the
same pleasures, and read the same books,
this companonshp makes matrimony a
heaven on earth, and it is the ,.-ope Of getting
this companionship that justifies people in
plunging on a hundred to one shot on a
wedding ring.
But even when they are not particularly
congenial, even when they quarrel and fight
like the Kilkenny cats, the married still have
companionship that gives certain zest to
life. You are bound to miss your sparring
partner if he or she is taken away from you.
1t is more entertaining to have somebody to
scrap with over the breakfast table than to
eat alone, and one misses even the nagging
when nobody cares what one does.
Moreover as one grows old, companion
ships become more and more necessary
Young people can find pleasure in entertain
ment, in dancing, and theaters, and run