Oy. Talk about a survival question??..

Is it harder? Many of my younger friends say so; so do many of my contemporary single friends.

As to the why, I think it?s a number of factors (in no particular order): we live in a time of the immediate gratification, the rather easy divorce laws, little reason to make the commitment when you can do the same thing without it, commitments mean less these days, people often have unrealistic expectations of a mate, etc, etc. There is no simple answer.

My wife and I have been married for 19 years now. For me, the companionship, security, and reassurance that I derive from being married is immeasurable. We have shared wonderful times and very tough ones. And each seems to make us stronger. Has it been the stuff of romance novels? Nope. (?Happily ever after? is for children?s fairy tales?.) Am I the perfect mate? Um, nope. Is she? Nope. Is it the toughest job you?ll ever have? Yep. Marriages take work. Lots of work. And, a lot of patience. I think the latter is sorely lacking in many folks nowadays, which is another factor for the dilemma.


Also, it helps if your wife will, without a second thought, buy you an over-priced tin full of candy just because she thinks you might want the tin. In this forum, we call a mate like that a?.. ?keeper?. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

?..CLIFF