Search Results for: blog did you commit to marriage before you even were

Four Terrifying Marriage Proposals

While surfing on the Internet I found a list of the “scariest marriage proposals” compiled by MSN. Given that this was just before Halloween, I thought they would have a spooky vibe. Well, I was wrong, though they were certainly scary. The four real-life marriage proposals were as follows: 1) A pilot took his girlfriend up for a ride in his small plane, pretended they were crashing, and handed his girlfriend an emergency checklist. His proposal was written on the list: “initiate ring engagement procedure.” 2) A stuntman faked a car crash and his subsequent death. His girlfriend was called … Continue reading →

How Premarital Counseling Might Help Marriages

What comes next? The other week one of the local radio station’s morning talk program held a discussion on marriage. A young engaged woman called in. She said that she signed herself and her fiance up for premarital counseling. She did so, she claimed, because her husband-to-be doesn’t know anything about what a modern marriage ought to be like. Her beloved was raised by his socially conservative grandmother. Now that they’re approaching their married life it came out that he believes she will do all of the work around the house and take care of the kids. We’ve looked at … Continue reading →

Remembering 9/11 First Responders and Volunteers

Today was certainly a day for remembrance. It was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and the television was filled with shows about the day. I’ve seen a lot of these shows but there was one I had seen before that I didn’t notice in today’s schedule. Almost 3,000 people died 10 years ago, and we certainly need to remember them and their families, but there’s another group that needs to be remembered today as well – the surviving first responders and volunteers. Sometime after 9/11, I saw a show about the first responders that survived and how many … Continue reading →

An Analogy of Marriage

What an interesting day yesterday. Before we started out for church the heavens opened. Thunder, lightning, and unbelievable rain raged. It was slow driving for Mick and me to get to church. Then just as we were about to round a corner close to church traffic came to a standstill. Water covered the road and a couple or cars turned around. One car though had attempted to go through the water. And became stuck. At that point we were never going to take the chance and try plowing through the water. We had two choices, either turn back and let … Continue reading →

Leslie Nielsen Dead at 84

Actor Leslie Nielsen has died of complications from pneumonia today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was 84. Just the other day, my family and I were watching the movie Airplane! I love that movie. Anyone who has seen it can’t forget some of Nielsen’s classic lines – “I just want to wish you both good luck, we’re all counting on you…” “You can tell me. I’m a doctor,” and my favorite “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.” It took a long time before I realized Leslie Nielsen had once been a dramatic actor and not always the funny … Continue reading →

Estate Planning and the Step Family

For too many of us, estate planning is the thing we’re always going to get to but often don’t. It’s like flossing, but with exponentially greater potential for harm. I understand why we procrastinate, believe me I do, but a failure to act in this department can have a devastating effect on your family. Our financial planner had been after us to create an estate plan for a year; as we began preparations for an extended trip through Mexico, it seemed irresponsible not to have something in place. We contacted an attorney who came highly recommended, and blithely scheduled an … Continue reading →

Another Side to the Story

In a book I’ve been reading, the couple ends up divorced after the husband has an affair. While we may consider that wrong, there is another side to the story. It is that his wife has neglected him. From the time their son was born she replaced her husband in her time and affections with her son. Everything revolved around the son. No child should ever be put in that position where they are the centre of a parent’s world. Part of the problem in this case was the way she gave into the child and either allowed the child … Continue reading →

Discipline When You’re The Only Parent

I’ve been a single parent for the past six years. One of the many things I’ve discovered along this path is that discipline is really tough to balance out when you’re the only parent in the household. Most couples will admit that there’s always a good cop/bad cop way of enforcing rules in the family. In my marriage I was the good cop and their father was the bad cop. (He was too bad in various ways, which is why we parted ways.) When I found myself a single parent with five daughters to guide and keep in line when … Continue reading →

Marriage Means Dealing with the Unexpected

Marriage often means dealing with the unexpected. This is what has happened to us and why I didn’t get to post a marriage blog yesterday. Mick and I have spent the last couple of days and most of Monday night at the hospital. No it wasn’t me, his time but him. On Sunday morning early Mick’s leg started to be painful. By the time we came home from church he could barely walk to the car. He rested up that day. When it was worse on Monday, I took him to the doctors. That started a whole cycle with him … Continue reading →

When Opposites Collide

There are some people in life who like to have everything mapped out to know what they are doing and when. Others like to be spontaneous and just go with the flow, not planning but doing things as the mood takes them. What happens when the two of these meet and fall in love? It can make for interesting times. It might even be one of the character traits that initially attracts one person to another but then come marriage it could turn into a major problem unless you find a way to resolve it. I admit I tend to … Continue reading →