In the second decade of the 21st century, will marriage go the way of VCRs, newspapers and free soda on airplanes?

Nobody has to get married anymore. There's no stigma about living together, or even having children together, without marriage.

But there will always people who just like to be married. Meet Allan.

He says: "My wife gave me an ultimatum of sorts after we had been together for eight months. We were both in our mid-twenties. She a little further into mid than I was and she knew I would be finishing graduate school in a few months and probably leaving the area.

"That was 35-years-ago this month.

"Why did we marry? Because we wanted to be together forever. Neither of us would be very good without the other. I can't imagine my life without my wife. She's my companion, sounding board, devil's advocate, biggest supporter, etc. I sincerely hope I'm half as good to her as she is to me.

"We're still amazingly happy. We still have sex two or three times per week, and any fall off has less to do with desire and more to do with a combination of stress (we wanted to retire and should have had more than enough money to do so, but we were hit hard by the market and still haven't recovered) and now that we're in our sixties, some parts (actually lots of parts, sexual and non-sexual) just don't work as well as they used to.

"I still travel a lot — particularly overseas — and I'm miserable for the week before I leave because I feel I'm taking away us time and I know how little we have left. Twenty years or so might sound like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things it's an instant.

"My least favorite words are 'See you in a few days, next week, whatever' as she leaves me at the airport. My favorite words are 'Flight attendants, prepare for landing' as I approach O'Hare."

And now here's Cash, who says that living together is a dead end for women who want to marry: "I'm a single male and 80 percent of my friends are married. Ladies, as soon as you let a man move in with you, you're telling him that marriage isn't that important to you, that just having him there is enough. (Even if it isn't.)

"My best female friend has a boyfriend she's known since grammar school. He wants to get married as soon as possible and she wants to wait. Both are 28 and working. She won't let him move in. I told her that's why he's so persistent. Ladies, males love the chase, they love to be the hunters. Become a challenge. Men love a challenge.

"There are men who like the benefits of living together, but they don't want anything beyond that, at least for right now. Dare I say prolonged adolescence? Some men never become responsible adults for whatever reason. Not being married gives them an easy out when the right woman does come along.

"Truth: If a male finds exactly who he wants, he will not hesitate on marriage. Why? Because he knows if he waits, he risks the chance of losing her to someone else.

"Men like to be the one bringing up marriage. If the woman is repeatedly bringing it up, then, pardon the cliche, but he's just not that into you and there's a chance he never will be."

Got a problem? Send it, along with your questions and rants to [email protected]. And check out my new e-book, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front."