marriage

Wife 22

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Wife 22

Melanie Gideon’s “Wife22”  will make you smile, make you laugh and even make you think about your own marriage differently.  Alice Buckle has been married 20 years and feels like she has lost who she is and the romance she once shared with her husband, William, has vanished.  Alice is asked to participate in a marriage survey anonymously as “Wife 22”.  Her caseworker is “Researcher 101”.  It all starts innocently enough with standard questions that Alice answers.  But then the questions get more personal.  Alice remembers how thrilling, exciting and sexy the memories of first meeting William and their early dating years were.  She suddenly feels lonely and unloved and Research 101’s flirting hits the right nerve.  Alice begins to flirt back realizing that all the anonymous confessions have brought back the thrill of an early relationship.  This anonymous, secret romance leads to an interesting, unexpected conclusion.  “Wife 22”  is written with modern touches of Facebook and Twitter posts.  Gideon writes with the contemporary world in mind and realistically tells the tale of what any couple married 20 years might feel.  “Wife 22”  is a must read for anyone who thinks their marriage, and life, might be a bit stale.   So read on to see how Gideon solves the marriage doldrums.

15 Years

Posted on by Seniye Groff

This week is full of milestones and today’s milestone is making it to 15 years of marriage.  I have always believed that getting married was the easy part, staying married a little more difficult.   I never really wanted to “be married” just based on the fact that my parent’s marriage was so troubled.  But, I suppose, if you meet the right person and think that “you can do it differently from your parents”, then why not?  And that is exactly what happened.  I met a person that could be a partner, friend, confidante, explorer and whatever else we discovered along the way.  It did not hurt that his family seemed pretty “normal”.  He had a positive, respectful relationship with his mother.  All signs pointed to a potentially long-lasting relationship. 

I don’t mean for it to sound like a business transaction, but if people thought about marriage a little more thoughtfully past the madness of “being in love”, they might be married after 72 days…I’m just saying…

And our 15 years together has brought several trips oversees, two homes, two kids, two careers that have diverged and plenty of ups and downs.  But , never, any explosive arguments or fights.  I am not saying that fighting could not be part of the equation, especially since I am a triple A personality (and Eric  is triple laid back) but it just never has been.  Could there be an element of compromise in how we approach things?  Maybe. Certainly an element of respect.  But I also believe it is an element of perspective…perspective of what is really important…what really matters.  When your perspective is in the right order, everything else falls into place.