No one need apply for a divorce in many Chinese cities this Friday (8/8/08). It has nothing to do with the Olympics and everything to do with the number of couples applying for marriage registration on this luckiest of days. Triple eights brings a threefold measure of fortune and happiness in China. What better way to start a marriage?
Why Be Married? For Protection Against Alzheimer’s
More evidence today that being married may protect us against Alzheimer’s Disease or a less serious loss of cognitive abilities. This comes from Krister Hakansson of Sweden in a report to the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease today. The study looks at more than 1,400 people in Finland over a 21-year period from middle-aged to over 65. Among those who carried a gene...
Why Be Married? For the Family
I’ve always thought it wonderful that when I married, I married into a family. Both my husbands’ families are now part of my extended family. When my son married eight years ago, my family grew again. In a couple of weeks, I’ll get to meet his mother-in-law and father-in-law, who live in India, in person for the first time. I can’t wait. We share a couple of adorable...
Why Be Married? For the Name
Michael Buday and Diana Bijon wanted to share a last name: hers. On Monday, he finally got his new driver’s license with the name Michael Bijon. He sued the State of California–and got a change in the law–when they told him it would cost $350 and require court appearances to get a name change women can make for free. According to Reuters, only nine other states include this...
Why Be Married? To Avoid a Stroke
The news from psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad of Brigham Young University yesterday, according to the Washington Post: Happily married people have lower blood pressure than unhappily married people or singles, even those with a supportive social network.
Better yet, blood pressure dips even lower at night in the happily married, reducing their risk of cardiovascular problems.