Marriage Communication Archives - Page 2 of 3

10 , 13 2012

Have you been ‘fired’ as a marriage partner?

By Laura and John|2012-10-13T13:26:52-04:00October 13th, 2012|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

Does the following apply to one’s getting “fired” as a marriage partner? We think it does: “I’ve heard that no one gets fired without secretly hoping for the liberation, but that sounds like the kind of pronouncement you make before you’ve been given the boot. Being fired is the pits, ranking right up there with infidelity in its brutalizing effect. The ego recoils and one’s self-image is punctured like a tire by a nail. In the weeks since I’d been terminated, I’d gone through all the stages one suffers at the diagnosis of a soon-to-be-fatal disease: anger, denial, bargaining, drunkenness, foul language, head colds, rude hand gestures, anxiety, and eating disorders of sudden onset. I’d also entertained a steady stream [...]

10 , 10 2012

Love ends?

By Laura and John|2012-10-10T15:38:24-04:00October 10th, 2012|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

“A big lesson about loving someone is coming to understand that when love ends for one person, it ends for both people. The important part of this is recognizing when it has ended and not fighting against that.” --Elizabeth George

01 , 4 2012

When the Vow Breaks, Part V: Childless

By Laura and John|2015-02-04T14:20:36-05:00January 4th, 2012|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

Disappointment is a much underrated emotion. Left unchecked, it can devolve to disenchantment and down the slippery slope to “I don’t care anymore.” It can even lead to suicidal ideation. Bill and Mary were childless because she was barren. After marrying in their mid-20’s they waited six years, in deference to career development and financial solvency, before trying to become pregnant. On the proud day they became homeowners (it was Bill’s 32nd birthday), they stood dreamily in was to be the nursery. “Shall we paint it pink?” Mary said. “Blue, green or yellow. Let’s get pregnant,” Bill retorted with a loving squeeze. Now, approaching their 12th anniversary, they reported that there was no joy left, no sparks either, nothing to [...]

12 , 28 2011

When The Vow Breaks, Part IV – She Doesn’t Even Recognize Me.

By Laura and John|2015-02-04T14:21:23-05:00December 28th, 2011|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured|0 Comments

Sometimes the vow breaks and it’s nobody’s fault, unless you want to blame the victim of Alzheimer’s for contracting the disease. No sane person would do that. Vern and his wife Sandy married at 22, the day both of them graduated college. She worked to put him through grad school and he became a career university professor. The marriage ended nearly 60 years later when Sandy died, leaving Vern and two adult children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Theirs was a model “great American romance.” Almost. Sandy spent the last two decades of her life battling Alzheimer’s. It was a losing battle, soon requiring full-time in-home care and then, when she almost burned the house down, a pain-filled decision to [...]

11 , 29 2011

When the Vow Breaks; Part III: My Husband No Longer Believes in God!

By Laura and John|2015-02-04T14:20:40-05:00November 29th, 2011|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

Similar beliefs, values, and interests augur towards long, happy marriages. That’s why we worry when someone we know who is a Buddhist, marries a Baptist. But what if they share similar beliefs and values in the beginning, but then one spouse’s faith stance changes and the other spouse’s doesn’t? Jack and Jessie Jones came to a MAKE IT OR BREAK IT retreat because that is exactly what happened to them. Jessie, a devout evangelical Christian who happened to be a school teacher, married Jack, an equally devout evangelical Christian who happened to be an engineer. That was 40 years ago. Several careers and children and grandchildren later she retired. Soon he retired too. Upon retiring, Jack began reading and studying [...]

11 , 22 2011

When The Vow Breaks, Part II – But The Affair Was Just Emotional!

By Laura and John|2015-02-04T14:20:46-05:00November 22nd, 2011|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

Mary was a stay-at-home Mom of three little children. Walter, her husband, was a “Type A” entrepreneur for whom a 70+ hour work week was the norm. Because he was making loads of money, Walter decided he wanted a bigger, better house. Mary would gladly have settled for their current house and more Walter. She reported, “When he’s home, he’s not really home. He’s emailing, texting and thinking about business.” Once the architect delivered the plans, Walter hired a general contractor. Mary became the de facto project manager since, observed Walter, “She had plenty of time on her hands.” It turned out that “Joe” the contractor was not only competent but had a tender heart and knew how to listen. Old [...]

11 , 16 2011

When the Vow Breaks, Part 1: Is you is or is you ain’t?

By Laura and John|2011-11-16T20:34:39-05:00November 16th, 2011|Marriage Communication, Marriage Help, Marriage Help Featured, Save My Marriage|0 Comments

When one – either the husband or the wife – leaves their marriage emotionally and spiritually, that marriage becomes just as defunct as if one of the spouses had physically died. At best, the partners live alone together. At worst, the marriage becomes a living hell. Some couples eventually separate but never divorce. Others divorce with rancor and a bitterness that lasts a lifetime. The first morning of a five-day MAKE IT OR BREAK IT retreat, Margie said to Tom, in front of the two of us, “I don’t want to try anymore.” After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Tom replied, “Please let’s not stop the process. Laura and John can help us. If we’re gonna come apart then let’s [...]