Were Your Father and Mother There For You?

This topic is so obvious yet I have yet to write about it. It may be partly because it is so close to home, for my boys.  I was blessed to have my father and mother in my life completely and lovingly, until they died in recent years (at 89 and 90).  They loved me, supported me, and told me the truth when I needed to hear it, whether I wanted it or not.

As is so often the case, I found their wisdom to be true once I survived my teens and particularly when I became a parent myself.  They also modeled a love affair and marriage that was the envy of all their friends, since they knew each other for 73 years and were married for 66.  It was a wonderful match. They survived two of their three children, but always stood by each other and I am so grateful for all that they did for me.

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Just A Guy, His Wife, and The KIDS

So, herewith Part Three of my blogs about the “Big Three” subjects most couples argue about.  We’ve done money and sex; now “the kids.”  I will declare, at the onset, that this issue is usually more combustible in blended families, though it certainly is present in nuclear ones as well.

For us, we had to deal with me having raised my kids alone for several years and my second wife having not had kids or any meaningful (especially living with them) experience with kids.  But, she’s got an opinion and has never been bashful about expressing it (anymore than me). read more