My first husband and I did this entirely by accident, and now I highly recommend it, even though he did not survive to enjoy the date, and I am happily remarried to someone very different. Who will celebrate with you? It’s likely your parents and perhaps even some of your siblings and friends will be gone by then. Do you (both of you) picture being surrounded by children and grandchildren...
June brings lots of anniversaries. If you’re wondering how to let your husband or wife feel your love, I want to help. Q. If I take my wife away for a just-us weekend, do I also need an anniversary gift? A. Etiquette does not apply to a marriage. Neither does the opinion of any other woman you know or even a survey of 3,057 women you did not marry. All that matters is this: does your wife...
Fifteen years ago today, on Valentine’s Day of 2006, I launched this blog to share some thoughts on marriage. I am so proud of the body of work that has followed. To see all of the posts, I hope you will visit the Archives. My very first post, so that I could link to it in the sidebar ever since, was Don’t Pretend Love You Assume Love when you take a second look at what your spouse or...
When my wonderful friend Gill Othen celebrated her 33rd wedding anniversary in August, she added this comment on Facebook: "It’s funny — very few of my ‘gang’ at Durham have divorced, yet there seem to be very few people my age who haven’t been otherwise." I asked her for a guest post, then I clumsily never noticed it slip into my inbox until now, almost 3...
This is a guest post written for Assume Love by Elizabeth H. Cottrell. My husband and I are about to celebrate our 39th anniversary. In case you haven’t already covered these “secrets,” I share them now: Listen to each other — REALLY listen, and confirm that you’ve heard by saying it back, “So, am I understanding that what you mean is…?” Physical...
I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.
