Someone asked me recently for marriage tips. Here are mine, in a nutshell:
Assume Love when upset, Expect Love when disappointed, Look for Third Alternatives in a dispute.
These three things will make any marriage more enjoyable.
Happy Anniversary
Today marks the anniversary of the day Ed and I married. With each year, our lives have been woven more tightly together. We’ve shared some incredible high points and held each other close through some very difficult moments. We’ve watched each other grow as individuals and ourselves grow as a couple. It is this complexity, this richness, this history that I missed when my first...
Married? Busy? Take Your Spouse’s Calls
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino says her predecessor, Tony Snow, “was the inspiration for her 2008 New Year’s resolution, which was always to take her husband’s telephone calls, no matter how busy she was at work,” according to tomorrow’s New York Times. Tony Snow died today of colon cancer, at age 53, leaving a wife and three children it’s evident he...
Marriage and the Risk of Divorce
Five years from now, you will be a different person. You will have different interests, different tastes, different challenges. Date, live together, avoid commitment, and you’ll be free to move on to a partner who shares your new interests, matches your new tastes, helps with your new challenges. That’s the choice of many who were exposed to unhappy marriages or divorce while growing...
Vinegar Hill
On Saturday evening, I watched the CBS made-for-TV movie, Vinegar Hill. I found myself yelling “Assume Love” at the screen many times. The movie’s based on an Oprah Book Club selection by A. Manette Ansay. It opens with a close-knit and cheery family of four packing up in Chicago to move in with his parents on their farm. Ellen and Jake have lost their jobs, and she’ll be...