There is an apparent absence of useful analogies for describing marriage.
Steve absolutely is my best friend, and my teammate, and my partner in crime. However, those descriptions are banal at best. I have had other best friends, and been on other teams, and paired up with people for activities I wouldn't have done alone.
There's no description in the English language of a union which enhances the self. Anything I try to compare marriage to -- friendship, teamwork, criminal activity -- is totally and completely wrong.
This doesn't mean that marriage is better than other things. (If the non-existence of a romantic partner is what makes you happiest, more power to you.) It's not objectively better than other human relationships. I'm just flummoxed by the total inadequacy I encountered when I searched for the words to answer a basic question: "What's changed since you got married?"
Nothing tangible. Everything, everything, a thousand times everything, intangible. And I can't tell you how or why.
