Teenage marriage is more the norm than exception throughout all of human history for which marriage existed - and for the most part the history of the United States. How or how did the human race survive?
My maternal grandfather came here at 13, fleeing conscription into the Czar's cavalry because he could ride a horse. 20 years of his life. He worked manual labor on the railroads when he arrived here, starting as a waterboy, saved his money and sent to Europe for a wife when he turned 16, a mail order bride who was 14. She was believed to be spoiled goods, having been kidnapped and raised by an Hungarian family for 3 years, fated to be a spinster at 16 if she wasn't passed off to some having no knowledge of her past. She was Viennese. They remained married until she passed at age 81 in her sleep. They had four children, three college educated, and my grandfather hung around till he was 97. I'd call that a successful marriage.
I have good friends who met in elementary school, dated during junior high and high school years, married at 17 upon high school graduation. Both college educated, still married with two adult daughters, and they still can't keep their hands off each other after 49 years of marriage. I call that a successful marriage.
It is not a question of age, but one of maturity, love and lust, shared goals and the willingness to work hard for the benefit of the relationship that matters.
Today we serial marriage as the norm, lust ruling over love, no common goals, no willingness to work hard for the benefit of the relationship. Instant gratification rather than the realities of gradual returns.
My first decided we would be married when she was 14. Ten years later she got her way. We raised 4 great kids together, stood by each others side and back through thick and thin until she passed from leukemia. I never had a say in the decision to marry. Good thing, since I would have run like a coward. Best thing I ever did was say Yes at the alter, even if the best man had to keep me standing. I've since remarried, to a wife with a similar loss in her life, and it works. We do love each other. Both marriages have had their ups and downs, but quality effort made and make both work. Age has just been an inconvenience for both marriages.
The real Romeo and Juliet were 14 and 13, respectfully. Passions are not relegated to arbitrarily selected age groups, least of all those suffering from extended adolescence.
