Marriage and relationships, and my family

So I was thinking about this tonight as Dexter and I drove back home this evening.  Basically, family dynamics, specifically speaking the number of times everyone's family members have been married, and what the circumstances were.  And how do you think all of that has influenced your relationships, as well as IF you are married-- how does it influence your marriage?

My Mom was married three times when she died.  Her marriage to my Dad was her third and last marriage.  They were married 34 years.  They met like a few days after my older sister had been born.  My Mom's brother brought Dad home (they were both on leave) and they met and right away Dad knew he was going to marry Mom, even though she was married to her then second husband.  My Mom's second husband was SO horrible that the nurses in the hospital were begging my Mom to leave him.  My Mom married her first husband to get away from her home situation.  She never talked about the first husband. 

My Grandmother (my Mom's mother) was married 6 times-- but she says she was married 4/5 times.  Let me explain that!!  Her first husband she married at 14.  This was my Mom's Dad and he was in the Army.  The marriage was annulled.  Her last husband she now says she was never married to.  He tried to kill her (yeah, its like tradition in my family or something, everyone is trying to kill everybody) and I remember seeing the bloody walls and bloody broken windows.  So after that happened she said he was never her husband.

Well, my great grandmother, (My Mom's grandma) was ALSO married 6 times.  I think just because she liked to be married, no abuse there as far as I know.

My Dad's parents got married and stayed married until my grandfather died.  My Dad's youngest sister never married and my Dad's oldest sister JUST recently got married, and she is in her 70's now (I think).  The other brother and sisters were just married once.  (Including Dad, Mom was his first wife)

My sister has been married since 1994, her first and probably only marriage.  She was I think 22 when she married.  I'm 34 and not only have I never married, but I've never had I guy say the big "I love you" before-- well Dexter has said it, but more as "I love you, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you (he was honest about this from the beginning 8 years ago)

So my sister and I definitely did NOT have a traditional example of marriage!!!  And she took the most traditional route (Christian wedding, not having sex until marriage, the old fashioned view that the man is the head of the household, etc) and IF I ever have a ceremony, it will be a Wiccan handfasting, and that probably won't happen until I'm in my fourties at least.  And then a part of me never wants to be married.  She and I have definitely taken two different routes as far as relationships.  And I bet anything on Earth that our examples of relationships had a big part of our two extremes.