Growing up, I remember that older people continually urged me to enjoy my childhood and youth. Like many of you, I longed for a time when I could chart my own destiny and engage the world independently. Marrying young allowed that to happen much faster than I thought.

When you are young, it seems like everyone feels a need to offer-intentioned advice that never quite seems to fit. Those same adults that counseled patience and presence at the moment said something that I always found confusi...