About a year ago, my husband, Greg, and his cousin, Christy decided to run the New York Marathon together. Both are experienced marathoners. They’ve run 21 between the two of them. Christy is a New Yorker and she knew she would be admitted to the race. Greg needed a lottery [...]read more

I was married on December 21, 1991 – almost 24 years ago. The first 10 years of my marriage were tough. Much of the difficulty was because I wasn’t yet facing my own areas of growth. This was a typical pattern: Greg would do something that hurt me or I [...]read more

No one can push my buttons like those close to me. Of course, I can be upset by those I don’t know well: the women in front of me that is taking too long at Starbucks, the man driving aggressively behind me on the beltway, or the parent I decide [...]read more

One of the three marriage paths is being stuck. David Schnarch, author of Secrets of a Passionate Marriage, describes this as Emotional Gridlock. He says that early in relationships couples often agree and affirm each other. But naturally over time, they agree less and conflict begins to show. When in [...]read more

All marriages start the same. The particulars will vary, but the story goes something like this: Couple meets. They are attracted to each other. They connect and accept each other. They are in love. They decide to marry and live happily ever after. The marriage start story is pretty simple. [...]read more