Marriage links for the week
Modern television may be eroding marriage (as I mentioned in a recent post), but ancient television probably created unrealistic expectations. From a fellow 5-year veteran: "I was going to be the perfect wife and mother. I was never going to run out of milk, laundry was always going to be done, we would never have to use Kleenex in place of toilet paper, my husband was always going to have a hot breakfast before leaving for work at 4:30 a.m. and the house would always be spotless." Real marriage isn't like Ozzie and Harriet. It's so much better.
Two party people celebrate their 60th.
If you get married to enhance your own happiness, you will find only misery. No person on this earth can make you happy. If two people get married to devote themselves to each other, the experience will be more rewarding than either could have imagined (another person can make you happier). These two perspectives cast radically different lights on marital conflict, both while it is happening and when we look back on it.
Researchers and long-married couples talk about what makes a good marriage.
A happy marriage can help prevent cancer. (Scroll down to No. 3: Lifestyle.)
This article is sort of a commercial for a dating service, so you have to take it with a grain of salt, but it makes a good point about finding a soul-mate (something I discussed in a recent post). Two people don't fit together like pre-cut puzzle pieces. People invest themselves in each other's lives, build a solid relationship, and grow together like grafted plants.
