The New Relationship Mid-Point

My religion teacher in high school once said that we could never really ever get to our next class (English) because there is a midpoint between his room and Ms. Hendrix room. And there is a midpoint between that midpoint and his class. Essentially, there are endless midpoints to pass through and therefore, we aren't able to physically move ourselves to a new location.

In relationships, many would identify the "move in" together stage as the midpoint between a very successful third date and marriage. And the midpoint between living together and marriage is the engagement. And, well, that's it. There really are no other midpoints after that. Men either have to go ring shopping or acknowledge that they aren't ready to settle down. No one has ever successfully found another midpoint that reveals a man's intention of a permanent life together without going for a full engagement. Until now.

Scenario: Man hears about a capital fundraising campaign from his college or favorite national service organization. Let's call it, the Alumni & Families Campaign for the CY Headquarters for Idealism. For a $1,000 gift over 5 years, the alum can be permanently recognized on the glass of the Alumni Conference Room. A wrinkle to the $1,000 gift is that alumni who married each other or who define their relationship as "serious" can combine $500 gifts and be recognized together. It's more meaningful than a tattoo of each other's names and it can actually be more permanent than marriage.

Hey, your names are up there forever unless you want to pay to re-commission the glass. But, this idea is so good it will extend the midpoint between living together and engagement a good 18 months. She’s going to need some make-her-girlfriends jealous time. And of course, want to show off her cut of glass to friends and family.

Interestingly, the market research of the alumni donor community shows that 3 joint gifts have been made to the campaign by alumni who are in the serious dating category. All three gifts were initiated by the woman. Hmmm. Good way to find out how the other half feels about the relationship. Sure, you can ask yourself, "Do I see myself marrying this person?" but it feels kind of abstract. Asking yourself, "Do I want my name next to their name on glass forever ever?" now that's an image you can visualize.

In case you are wondering, my religion teacher was never married. Just too many midpoints.