My parents have just started worrying about how serious my boyfriend and I are, and have started limiting our time. We have been together for nearly a year, and he is absolutely the best friend I've ever had. I have more in common with him than anyone I have ever known--our personalities, beliefs, backgrounds, etc. Both of us are at a level of maturity uncharacteristic of our age group, and we are in love beyond words. Of course my parents could never understand; they think it's naive puppy love or infatuation. But I've never felt closer to anyone; when we're together, we get sublime feelings of utter contentment and security. We've grown out of our previous rebellion together, bringing each other closer to God in the process. He is the most amazingly passionate person I've ever known--his convictions are so strong--he is an incredible guy. He's very gentle, sensitive, and caring. Nothing would make him happier than to provide for me the rest of his life, and nothing would make us happier than to spend the rest of our lives together. We have thought this through, and he could easily provide for us doing what he loves. He even says he would love paying for me to go to college. We totally understand the lifetime commitment this would be; our relationship contains boundless love, tenderness, total intimacy, mutual understanding and sacrifice. However, I'm sure our parents would not be extremely thrilled at the prospect of our marrying so soon. We are both 17 right now; I wish I could explain our relationship more so that I could eliminate any shadow of a doubt about our genuine love at such a young age, but that would take quite awhile if it was even possible. We'd love to get married after high school when we're each 18, but we know our parents would object to such an early marriage. Being "legal adults" at that time, we could go ahead regardless what they say, but we really want their support. Of course my boyfriend plans on asking my dad to marry me beforehand, but what if he says no? (Which seems likely right now.) Should we just TELL them we're going to and hope they can live with it, or wait for forever....? We can't stand being apart, and our lives would be so wonderful together...I know it won't be perfect--please don't think I'm being naive. We have no doubts that it would be a successful marriage; I just wish I could make them understand how much we love each other. Is there some way we can make them understand? What can we do? ADVICE PLEASE!!
