HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-02-18, Page 52Page 40 - Wednesday, February 18, 1998
• AF ER THE WEDDING
Your wedding day was
beautiful, flowing with
words and acts committed •
to a happy life. .
But how do you:keep that
feeling alive after the vows
have been exchanged? .
.Modern Bride's Barbara S
Smalley offers a few do's
and don'ts that many happy
husbands and wives -
practice daily:
1. Maintain -your -
friendship
In a recent study, 300 _
couple who'd been happily
married for 15 -or more were
asked to share the Number
1 reason for their marital •
success. Both men and
women said, "My spouse is
my best friend:" Keeping
this friendship strong can
be difficult when both
partners work and quality
time together must be
'scheduled. However, time
, together should be a
priority.
• learn to say no to social
iinvitations that take too
much time from being .
together .
• time together does not
have -to be filled with
nonstop activity.
Friendships thrive on time
spent doing nothing more
than talking.
2: Remain intimate
Intimacy is not: necessarily
synonymous with.sexuality..
Over the years,•you.wilt re-
create the wild attraction
you felt when the .
relationship was new, but .
your ability to remain
intimate.will become the
foundation for your
marriage. '
The rules for maintaining
intimacy and friendship are
identical. To be intimate,
couples must make
spending time together a
top priority. Letting your
spouse know your deepest
feelings, hopes,thoughts
and fears and having your
spouse respond with
respect and Igye can mean
the difference between a
rocky relationship and a
rock -solid marriage.
3. Learn to compromise
When couples arewilling
to compromise, they sepd
each other a
- powerful
message: "1 love
you -- let's work
this problem
out." Sometimes
arife MaPPG;7,,e ‘P-G??A, WIdff0-,12~GG
'My spouse is my best friend.'
No. 1 reason for marital success
compromise means meeting
halfway. Sometimes it
means deciding what's
really important to you and
making trade-offs. And it
always means
communicating openly and_.
honestly with each other.
Compromising won't
work, however, unless both
partners are willing to give
and take. So, one key to
compromising is to pick
your battles carefully. When
you can live with it,'give in.
Then, later, when
something is really
important to you, hopefully,
your partner will do the
same for you. -
4. Support each other
Remember your
commitment to each other --
It usually happens that
when times are good,
they're really good. When
the bad times
hit, there's a lot
of blaming and
complaining
going on.
Couples need
to learn that all marriages
have their ups and downs.
5. Have fun together
Consider the following
scenario: you and your
spouse have both had a
hectic week. Now, it's
Friday night, and both of
you would love to rent a
video and snuggle in front
of the television. However,
the apartment is a wreck,
and two weeks' worth of
laundry is waiting. How
would you wind up
spending the night?
Couples with a highly
successful marriage would
choose the video over
cleaning. Happily married.
people have a knack -for
finding ways to take care of
domestic business and have
fun at the same time.
Keeping your sense of
humor in the worst and best
of situations is also -vital.
Laughing is a great stress -
buster, and
tress-buster,-and feeling
comfortable to be silly
around each other is the
ultimate bonding device.
l%ve that some of the most
rtant aspects right down to
the smallest detail -
of your wedding include...
• TRADITION •
• 'STYLE •
• ELEGANCE •
Choose something special for the
bride-to-be from ,
our large selection of gifts, bridal
' accessories,
flatware and so much more.
We are pleased, to offer the largest
in -stock selection of
NORITAKE Fine China,
Dinnerware & Crystal as well as
ONEIDA Flatware
in the entire county. ,