Let's see. Who does that leave? Just our parents and Rev.

Mac. Their marriages lasted "till death us do part."

The meaning of this brief look at a handful of

mid-20th-century marriages? I'm not sure. For whatever it's worth, of the young

people gathered on that Palm Sunday of 1956, we were the only ones who

did not graduate from college. The rest, all but one, went on for

advanced degrees.

We took our vows seriously. So, I'm sure, did they. Maybe

our marriage lasted simply because we're too stubborn to consider

alternatives. Maybe because staying married is more comfortable

than becoming unmarried.

We did promise in front of God and everyone who mattered to

us that we would stay together. That doesn't leave a lot of choice;

neither does it guarantee a happy-ever-after ending.

I may embroider some of my stories a little, but I've never

pretended that Dave's and my history has been especially

romantic. Suffice to say, neither of us believes that romance is a very

realistic basis for marriage.

Some people do, my college roommate apparently one of

them. Here are the closing paragraphs of her Christmas letter:

"I'm trying to write a Christian romance novel to keep

myself entertained and also just to see whether I can do it. The

Christian aspect is supposed to be the newest trend. My story is very sweet,

but still needs a lot of work to make it a page-turner.

"Several that I have read are really just regular romances with

'The Lord' thrown in periodically and they never, ever have sex

before marriage. At least mine shows some Christian growth. But it

needs more punch... I'm working on it. Will let you know when I'm

successful."

"More punch." Hmmm. After all these years you'd think she'd

have learned that growth in a marriage beats "more punch" by a

country mile.

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