Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage by Kody Brown, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, Robyn Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

come to terms with my estrangement from certain members of my family, I imagined that I’d have sister wives who would, at least in part, compensate for that loss.
    I’m sure all of this was on my mind during my honeymoon. So I felt pressure for my marriage to succeed right from the start. However, I had no idea how to go about this. Kody and I had a deep friendship and we were completely compatible on an intellectual level. We were committed to the decision we’d made. Now we had to find a way to make it work.
    By the end of the honeymoon, we had arrived at a point where we felt safer with each other. But it would be many, many years into our marriage before our true love story would begin.
    I didn’t know when I married Kody what a struggle that firstyear would be. I moved into the house with him and Meri and lived in their guest room. I felt like a long-term visitor, an eternal houseguest instead of a wife.
    Meri and Kody were still very much in love and they had no idea how to incorporate me into their lives. I had no idea where I fit into the marriage. When we watched movies they would sit on the couch and hold hands under a blanket and I’d sit in my own chair.
    I didn’t feel as if I had my own place in the house. Arguments would erupt over the smallest things—the right way to fold clothes, the right way to clean the kitchen. I felt challenged and confronted on all fronts. I lost my sense of self. I would have to learn to speak up for myself and establish my own life and status within our household.
    It wasn’t until Kody married for the third time that things would begin to settle down in our household.

Chapter Three
CHRISTINE AND KODY

     
Christine
    I was raised in a polygamous family just outside of Salt Lake. My grandfather was the head of our church, which means my family has been closely involved with all aspects of our faith since I can remember. You could say that when it comes to our church, I’m connected.
    Although I was raised polygamous, it wasn’t until I was seventeen that I decided, without a doubt, that I was going to accept the principle of plural marriage. It took me a while to come to this decision. I reflected and prayed and turned inward until I had my answer. Eventually, I developed a strong testimony about the way I wanted to live my life.
    The biggest influence on my decision to live the principle of plural marriage was my grandmother. She loved having sister wives and knew that the strongest relationship in her marriage was with them. When I decided that I was going to enter into a plural marriage, I knew that it would be only as a third wife. Even as a teenager, I was certain this was the path for me.
    I understand how many people might think this is a strange preference. Why would I want to come third when I could come first? But when you think about it, if you are as committed toplural marriage from a young age as I was, you’re less interested in the monogamous stage of the relationship than in the plural stage. I wanted sister wives as much as I wanted a husband.
    It’s a common misconception—at least in my worldview—that it’s best to enter a family as first wife. People often think, incorrectly, that the first wife has the highest status and the most security. I never saw it this way. In fact, in my opinion, being the first wife takes too much work and involves too much self-sacrifice. You have to give up your life entirely and be joined at the hip to your husband. It’s just you and your husband until the day he marries a second wife. This kind of single-minded devotion never appealed to me—I’m independent and I like my freedom.
    Being the second wife didn’t seem like a better option either. In fact, I think that would have been worse than being the first wife. The second wife has the hardest job and is put in the most uncomfortable position, because she’s the one who comes along and disrupts the marriage of the first wife and her husband. You can’t blame