Dear Mr. Caneday,
I wish I could state that I have been a longtime follower of “Small Wonders,” but the truth is it’s only been the last three or four months that I began reading your column. Having admitted that, it is my regret that I didn’t begin sooner. I truly enjoy your column, and it is the high point of my Saturday mornings.
One of your recent columns concerned marriage. I believe you had been requested to say a few words about marriage with regards to someone’s upcoming exchanging of vows and it gave pause for you to reflect on what marriage entails — and what it is not. That piece resonated with me, particularly now.
My husband and I have multiple failed marriages between us. We are in our early 60s and have been together 11 years and married for nine years this December. We have never been married this long to our previous spouses and consider this union to be a “coup” in light of our history.
When I read that particular column on marriage, I gently suggested my husband read it. He was pressed for time and indicated he would read it later. When “later” arrived and he still had not read it, I printed the column and placed it on the dining room table where he would be sure to see it. He did, and when he read it, I knew that it had hit home with him just as it had with me.
In the past, we were the type of people that when a relationship/marriage began to deteriorate, the conditions deplorable, the challenges too great to rise above, the meeting of the minds nonexistent, we bailed. Divorce was an easy way out of a bad situation.
