Marriage in the Suburbs -- 60s Style
Thursday July 9, 2009
Although the movie
"Bachelor in Paradise" didn't receive great
reviews back in 1961, watching it tonight was fun. The movie stars
Bob Hope and
Lana Turner and has music by
Henry Mancini.
Set in the suburbs, the movie was a flashback for us to 1960s' decor, music, architecture, cars, and fashion along with society's expectations of marriage when we married. I can't say the movie has any great message about marriage. But it did make us laugh and that's a pretty good way to spend an evening together.
The Importance of Now
Monday July 6, 2009
Some days have more "aha" moments than others. Today, while reading through articles I saved in the "read later" program by
Instapaper, I had a flashback and an awareness.
Jay Dixit in Psychology Today, wrote that you can have a more satisfying marriage if you live in the moment.
Over thirty years ago, when our premature daughter Susan Sarah was dying, Bob and I made the decision to live in the moment and to appreciate the moments, the "now" we had with Susan. The awareness today was that we have done a pretty good job of continuing to live "now" and to not allow the past or the future to take today away from us.
How do you live in the moment? What tips can you share to help others live in the moment? Share Your Tips
Crash and Burn Predictors
Thursday July 2, 2009
Whenever we see a commercial for the
Bridezillas television show or
read news about out of control brides and grooms, we cringe. Don't these people sense that their chances of having a happy marriage are slim?
Dr. John Gottman has a mathematical equation that predicts with 94 percent accuracy whether or not a marriage will last. Now, a wedding planner, Samantha Goldberg, shares five signs that "are predictors of whether a couple will live happily ever after or bite the dust."
The signs that Goldberg mentions in the Cosmopolitan article include choosing the wedding cake, interferring mothers, the wedding dress, the bachelor party, and how a couple argues. We agree with her.
Red flags are warning signs. They are alerts that things are not right in a relationship and that the couple needs help. There are ways that a couple can lower their odds for divorce before they marry.
Goldberg shared an example of an engaged couple she refused to work with because she was sure the marriage wouldn't last. It would be great if wedding officiants made the same decision when they recognized a couple in trouble. A couple could then postpone the wedding and attend an additional premarital workshop if they truly want a successful marriage.
Photo: Don Farrall / Getty Images
These Statements Are Hard to Believe
Tuesday June 30, 2009
As we read through the news reports today about the Sanford saga, we were shocked to see these stupid statements.
The first comment is a very depressing view of marriage. The other comments from Mark Sanford reveal he is still in love with his mistress and is defending his cheating. He sure doesn't sound like a man who wants to save his marriage.
1. "For most Christians, at some point in your marriage, if you're married long enough, you do it because that's what we're called to do -- out of obedience instead of out of passion. And I think that's where Mark and Jenny are right now."
Warren "Cubby" Culbertson, the Sanford's spiritual advisor per HuffingtonPost.com.
2. "I'm quite certain that there were a handful of instances [with several other women] wherein I crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man but never crossed the ultimate line."
Gov. Mark Sanford per CBSNews.com.
3. "This [relationship with Chapur] was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story. A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
Gov. Mark Sanford per NYTimes.com.
4. "I owe it too much to my boys and to the last 20 years with Jenny to not try this larger walk of faith [trying to fall back in love with Jenny.]"
Gov. Mark Sanford per NYTimes.com.
5. "It was wonderful. Something that I've never been able to put my hands on was there. I remember there was an older couple sitting to our right, and I remember them watching us, in the way that we interacted. They could see a spark, or, I don't know what you'd call it, but there was something there."
Gov. Mark Sanford per CBSNews.com.
6. "I will be able to die knowing that I had met my soul mate [Chapur]. But it was one of those things, I knew the cost."
Gov. Mark Sanford per Associated Press.
Hopefully, you agree with us that folks in long lasting marriages are together out of love and passion and not out of a sense of obligation and that Mark Sanford needs to quit defending his affair.