James Dobson has written that the best gift you can give your children is to love their father (or mother, as the case may be).
I never think of my parents as being romantic, though I do remember lots of hugs and kisses and just holding each other in a very proper way ...
Then, my mom started telling me things about my dad and her during their courtship ... things like:
You dad would go hunting and one night I showed him Orion in the skies. I told him: Whenever you see Orion's belt, with those three stars, think: I love you, because you know I will be looking at him also, knowing you are out there, away from me (he would go for a week at time - - a REAL man's man <g>) and speaking "I love you" ... so when you see the belt, just know that the stars are saying "I love you" ...
The day they were married, after the justice of the peace pronounced them man and wife, Dad turned to Mom and said: "Hello, Pardner" ...
think about it! And, she was ... ! and, Dad was a good provider and pardner - - they were really good for each other (though, I would have raised him differently! LOL) Thank God I lived long enough to see how unique they were and their marriage was.
Yes, there are marriages where one is an abuser ... but, for the victim - - think about it ... the signals were there, we were just too busy thinking we were invincible to pay attention to the reality of the personality presented to us. We made excuses for things that bugged us or warned us and denied the red flags .. we probably even knew we shouldn't be dealing with the people we decided to marry before we ever got close to the proposal.
But, this is supposed to be a thread about marriage tips ...
I remember reading (hold on to your hats, cuz you ain't going to believe this one!) a COSMOPOLITAN the first year I was married the first time ....
They had a 10 Commandments for Married Women that I copied somewhere and don't know where, but I remembered this commandment - -
Thou shalt not expect thy husband to provide for you in a year all the things your father took twenty years providing for you.