• Communication in Marriage

    Just Say You’re Sorry

    I love Chris Stapleton. Before we go on in this relationship, if you don’t love Chris Stapleton, I don’t know if we can be friends. How I feel about his singing is past the point of love – something that transcends it, something indescribable, something there will never be ample words for. Haha! OK… that’s extra. Even for me. My new fave song of his, which is co-written and sung with Pink, is “Just Say I’m Sorry.” Now, that’s a message I can get behind. It’s a plea to one’s lover to put their pride aside and live up to their mistakes. The lyrics are simple and so wise. If…

  • Communication in Marriage,  Relationship Advice

    How To Write a Love Letter

    My husband Bobby has offered numerous gestures of love over our 30+ years of marriage. But there has never been anything that meant more to me than his love letters. Is there a gift that could offer more than a love letter? Think about it. A letter from a loved one is from the one you love. It’s unique to you, and your relationship, deeply personal, and the effort alone shows how much they care. Because I know what a Big Deal this is, I’m going to share how to write a love letter. First, confession time. I have never written a love letter. But, I have perfect examples from Bobby…

  • Relationship Advice,  Relationships Take Work

    Sustain a Marriage With Forgiveness

    I read an article recently called “Why We Need Moments of Mad Thinking.” In it, the author contends, “We banish a great many thoughts from our minds on the grounds that they are, as we put it, ‘mad’.  Some of them evidently are: too mean, flawed, absurd or petty to deserve further exploration. But it’s one of the tragedies of our thinking lives that, amidst the detritus of dismissed thoughts, there are invariably a great many that could have been of high value, if only we had dared to examine them further, if only we hadn’t been so scared of their less conventional and more speculative dimensions, if only we…

  • Relationship Advice,  Relationship Advice for Men,  Relationship Advice for Women

    Sweet Words Of Thanks To Your Love

    Thanksgiving is coming! I love it; it’s my favorite holiday. I have so much to be thankful for! Sara Algoe, an associate professor of social psychology at the University of North Carolina, has been studying why gratitude is so important. Her research has found that appreciation is good for relationships and has “follow-on effects” on physical health. She said, “Taking the moment to acknowledge the things people do for us that we value actually has downstream consequences for both people. When couples express gratitude more frequently and descriptively to each other, they are happier in their relationship.” I can vouch for that 100%! My husband thanks me every morning for…