A week ago, I called my mom and asked her why she chose to marry my dad.

"I was sixteen," she replied, matter-of-factly.

She went on to explain that she loved my father and in those days, people were too young to analyze it much further than that. My sister got married when she was twenty-three. Her boyfriend, who became her husband, has consistently been her best friend. So she was using more long-term criteria than my mom, but nothing too detailed.

Many of the unmarried women around me have a much more complicated set of requirements from a plausible marriage partner. To them, it's not enough to love. It's not enough to be best friends, either. They wonder if this man will make a good living. Is he successful? Is he patient? Does he like children? Will he make a good father? Will he be caring to her parents? Is he going to let her have her independence? Can he cook? Will he share some of the chores?

These are just some of the issues my friends raise. Not to mention the fundamentals, like physical attraction. They are twenty-seven and they have their own career, their own priorities, their own lives and the man is supposed to fit into all of that smoothly or it's not going to work.

Which is why it doesn't.

They either can't find a man or won't put up with the imperfections of the ones they do find. It seems that the longer you put it off, the more complicated marriage becomes. The older we are, the more established our lives are, the harder it is to fit the man into it. The more demanding we become, the less likely such a man exists.

What's the right way? Do we marry in faith and with love or do we compile a list of demands and find the man who meets them all?

My opinion is that, as in most things, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. While it's not a bad idea to make sure the man in your life is kind and caring to babies as well as you, it's also okay to not dwell on every tiny detail. It's really not that big a deal if he doesn't bring you flowers every weekend. He can forget to unfold a piece of clothing. What matters still are the core things. Love, friendship, caring and having similar values.

Sometimes it's best not to be so demanding.

Previously? Limbo.