Solitude

"I now think of marriage like I think about living
in my home state of Minnesota.

You move into marriage in the springtime of hope, but eventually arrive at the Minnesota winter, with its cold and darkness. Many of us are tempted to give up and move south at this point, not realizing that maybe we've hit a rough spot in a marriage that's actually above average.

The problem with giving up, of course, is that our next marriage will enter its own winter at some point. So do we just keep moving on, or do we make our stand now - with this person, in this season? That's the moral, existential question we face when our marriage is in trouble."

Bill Doherty

Author, educator, marriage & family therapist