one would either gaze lovingly at his or her partner , remembering the day they had joined together in marriage or envisioning the day when they would , or one would smile somewhat sadly at the memory of ones own union from a time that had long since passed , as savannah was doing , or one would stare at their erstwhile boyfriend or girlfriend , who had sworn off the entire premise of marriage from the very beginning , but then one would say that she did not care , because she did not believe in it or need it either , and she and her boyfriend were not together , anyway but still , i could feel happiness for my friends .