MAUREEN LIPMAN SAYS NO TO MARRIAGE

Sitting in a romantic restaurant with my newest man friend, I was engrossed in conversation when I felt something slipping onto the third finger of my left hand.
It was a
ring! What's more, it was an engagement-type ring, with a pink stone in the middle.
'Will you marry me?' asked my boyfriend, looking deep into my eyes.
'No! No! No!' I shrieked, startling the nearby diners. He looked utterly crestfallen, and I did feel sorry for him, but honestly, us getting married just wouldn't make any sense.

If I have said yes, I can tell you what would have happened - I would soon have become one of the women I see all over Oxford where I live, pushing around dribbling old men in wheelchairs.Men die younger than women, and are stricken by life-limiting illnesses much sooner, so why would I, a fit and healthy woman, want to sign up for that?

Now if you marry at 25 and stay together for 50 years, bringing up children, you might eventually find yourself in a carer role.
But you've shared the good times together and that is very different from taking on somebody who is very quickly going to need you to morph into a full-time Florence Nightingale - no thanks!
I've taken every precaution to ensure I enjoy a healthy old age, why should I sacrifice all that for someone who hasn't taken care of themselves at all?  
I'm not alone in feeling that marriage has little to offer women later in life.
Just this week actress Maureen Lipman announced that it's not for her either, under any circumstances. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2694913/Any-woman-MAD-marry-60-Whats-point-tied-ailing-old-man-asks-LIZ-HODGKINSON.html