Congratulations Mario and Mrs Mario.on your upcoming 10th anniversary. My wife (2nd thai wife) and I have just had our 18th anniversary (of being together), 15 years of marriage coming up in December.
Having been maried 3 times and been in a long, very happy and loving unmarried relationship over many years in-between, I can understand what Coffee is saying. To me marriage (Coffee's "route") is little more than a piece of paper, keeping the wifes family happy (and the governments statistics to some extent). One does not normally enter into marriage unless both are happy and love each other. The day after the event, neither are effectively any happier, but unfortunately usually very much poorer. A relationship, within or without marriage, needs constant attention, must be regularly fine-tuned, and full of respect for each other if it is to last. Just being "married" is insufficient..
We do not celebrate our marriage...we celebrate the anniversary of our first meeting. The actual act of marrying (just the 2 of us down at the amphur) was to facilitate financial stability in the form of widow's pension and state benefits for our children should I die when they were young.. That alone shows love, caring and respect.