marriage is what brings us together today...

I'm so excited that my sweetheart will be home again in less than a month. I've lived the life of a single mother too many times over the last six years and don't like it. Sure there is more freedom from responsibility and less negotiation. But this is not as desirable as one might think. I enjoy having a companion with whom to explore ideas. Talking for hours, we dream and plan for our future. We glory in our children. We have grown comfortably together.

The reality check given by President Hinckley years ago changed the course of my thinking. I decided to treat my husband as if he were perfect. I attempted to change myself during this experiment. Now I can't say that over those years I was perfect, but I did strive to be more accepting, forgiving, loving, and respectful. While faults are still to be found, things are much improved. We've grown together in a much deeper way than the dating and newly wed days. We love to walk, read, discuss politics, and putter together. We've found that it is not good for man or woman to be alone.

Now that he is coming home soon, I hope we can get back into our old favorite things. I'd like to have picnics and walks by the creek, go to the temple every week, work with the bees, and get the garden going. But if all we do is hold hands, I'm OK with it.

“Perhaps our greatest concern is with families. The family is falling apart all over the world. The old ties that bound together father and mother and children are breaking everywhere...The love that led to marriage somehow evaporates, and hatred fills its place. Hearts are broken; children weep. Can we not do better? Of course we can. It is selfishness that brings about most of these tragedies. If there is forbearance, if there is forgiveness, if there is an anxious looking after the happiness of one’s companion, then love will flourish and blossom...This is a malady with a cure. The prescription is simple and wonderfully effective. It is love. It is plain, simple, everyday love and respect. It is a tender plant that needs nurturing. But it is worth all of the effort we can put into it.” (Gordon B. Hinckley in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 94; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 69).