Category Archives: Marriage

Read tips on how to keep your love alive and healthy while living in the real world.

Bonding With the In-Laws: The Youngest Sibling

One of the weirdest things about marrying into a large family was that I’ve been around for almost the entire life of my littlest brother-in-law.  When Jon and I first started dating, and I met the family for the first time, his youngest brother was only a bit over a year old.  While he knows most of Jon’s other siblings very well, because they all lived at home with him for years (and some still do), Jon wasn’t around much when he was growing up.  So Jon, his own brother, isn’t really that much more of a presence in his … Continue reading →

Divorce: A Bad Word

I will never forget when my children were younger and a neighbor child rang my doorbell to inform me that my son (who was about 7 years old at the time) had said a “bad” word.  “Really?” I responded.  “What did he say?” You could tell this kid was proud of himself, sure that after he told me, my son would be getting into some really big trouble.  Loudly he declared, “He said,” but then he barely whispered, “hell.”  I had to bend over to hear the word. Well as it turned out my son was apparently relaying a message … Continue reading →

How Do You Define PDA?

Recently my volunteering friends and I discussed PDA (public displays of affection).  My two friends talked about their husbands’ discomfort with PDA.  Well, I could relate to that: it tends to make a lot of people uncomfortable.  But then I learned that what they meant by PDA was hand-holding, hugs, a quick kiss. My one friend said it took her husband years before he would hold her hand in public.  The other said that when she and her husband meet up somewhere, when her husband arrives all the other women in the room get a hug, or sometimes even a … Continue reading →

Lucky in Love? No Such Thing

Is there such a thing as to be lucky in love?  When it comes to marriage, there really is no such thing as luck.  If you know a couple (or perhaps you are that couple) where it seems like they have it all together…trust me, it is not luck.  It is hard work. A good marriage isn’t built in luck, on chance.  It takes three key ingredients:  dedication, selflessness and commitment.  Let me be the first to tell you that none of these are easy to do. Dedication and commitment might sound the same but they really are different.  Dedication … Continue reading →

The Difference Between Friendship and Marriage

Sometimes I wonder what the difference is between friendship and marriage.  Not casual friendship, or even good friendship, but really-close, best-friends, rely-on-each-other-for-everything friendship.  If we look to the media for answers, it seems to imply that the only difference is physical desire.  In movies and television, the only or at least primary distinguishable change in the relationship between two characters that are best friends, and then become something more, is that their relationship adds a sexual element. Those are usually my favorite types of stories (as opposed to ones where the characters aren’t friends but jump right to dating), only … Continue reading →

Charged with a Life Sentence

Ever have one of those moments where the light bulb in your head suddenly comes on?  You are given a revelation and you aren’t really sure if it was divine providence or just pure luck. That happened to me last week when I was watching Dr. Phil.  I’m not exactly a junkie but I try to keep up on the shows that depict teen issues.  This time, however, I happened to be watching a show about marriage. I can’t even recall what the specific issue was.  But Dr. Phil said something to the wife that really struck a chord.  He … Continue reading →

Building a Marriage on Dependency and Independence

I was recently reading an article that stated the key to a happy marriage was living separate lives.  That this is how you feel validated as an individual. What’s interesting about this is that in order to feel validated, you need to feel important and acknowledged.  That generally doesn’t come from within.  Sure, it should be a part of feeling validated as a person.  But since we are humans, we crave receiving this from others. Isn’t that where a spouse comes in? Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that you need to be so dependent on your mate … Continue reading →

Commonsense Ways to a Happier Marriage

You will often hear about “secrets” to a happy marriage.  Personally, I don’t believe there is anything secret about having a happy marriage. Most of what it takes is well known.  In other words, we know what to do to have a happier marriage.  The key is choosing to do those things. So instead, let’s look at some old-fashioned commonsense ways to keep the marriage happy.  We start with the understanding that your spouse will never be perfect. Now most of us probably don’t really think that our spouse should be perfect.  Yet we place expectations that are oftentimes unrealistic.  … Continue reading →

Learning Marriage from Your Parents

I was raised with somewhat progressive views on marriage.  It feels strange to even be typing that, and it’s certainly nothing I ever thought growing up.  I know that on the overall spectrum of views on marriage, the ideals with which I was raised would only be in the middle, and probably closer to the conservative side of the middle.  But it’s still so surprising to me how many people aren’t even that far. I’ve already shared my story about my college roommate.   The reason she and her boyfriend didn’t talk for years about division of labor in the household, … Continue reading →

Marriage Is a Gem

If you could describe the whole of marriage, how would you do that?  I think I would describe it as a gem, one that is meant to be polished and taken care of. But I would also describe it as having imperfections.  Nothing in this world is really perfect, is it?  You look close enough; you can usually find a flaw.  The same is true in marriage. Yet when you take a step back, looking past the imperfections and flaws, you see nothing but a beautiful treasure.  Women oftentimes will hold their hand at a distance, as they admire the … Continue reading →