• friends,  Perseverance,  Resilience

    Marriage Role Models

    Who are your marriage role models? The number of couples choosing to get married is plummeting. Good solid marriages are less common than they used to be. Maybe YOUR marriage has been a role model for others – or maybe you would like to be. Role Models from Our Childhood Janine: As a kid I was surrounded by solid marriages – my parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents were all in committed marriages. One solid memory that has stuck with me from my childhood was the feeling I had whenever I heard my dad call my mom “Lovey.” When Dad called Mom “Lovey” all was right with the world. His…

  • Communication,  friends

    We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends

    Michelle: When Chris and I met, I had my friends and he had his friends. After we got married, some of my friends became our friends as did some of his. Now, in our more than twenty years together, we have made new friends, most of which we refer to as our friends. Some of our friends have been initiated by him and some have been initiated by me, however, recently, we were hanging out with one of OUR friends. These are friends we met at the same time and just instantly clicked.   Chris: We were walking to dinner together, myself by the husband and Michelle standing behind us with…

  • friends,  Happiness,  Playfulness

    Show Me Who Your Friends Are…

      Mom frequently told me, “show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are,” which usually meant, “I don’t like the people you are hanging around with.” Yet we have discovered much wisdom in her words and know firsthand the importance of deep friendships with other married couples. There is much written on the benefits of these friendships: The Benefits of Couple Friends – Prepare/Enrich (prepare-enrich.com). 7 Ways Couple Friends Can Make A Happier Marriage – (salteffect.com). We have come up with a few of our own.