We have learned recently that codependency (excessive reliance on relationships) tends to be learned in childhood and passed from one generation to the next. Yet we know that we can break free from codependent patterns, just as we can move beyond relationship failures and start learning from a successful new companionship. Generational shifting requires courage […]

After dating on and off for several months, I (Jeff) wanted a more committed relationship than Cathy felt ready for so she decided to discontinue dating me. Not surprisingly, I was hurt and disappointed and did not handle the situation as well as I could have. However, after a few months without contact, I began […]

"Grumpy Old Men" stars the classic comedy duo of Jack Lemon ("John") and Walter Matthau ("Max"). The subtitle of this picture is "A fifty year fight." Max and John live next door to each other in the small frozen town of Waubeshaw, Minnesota. These two grumpy old men frequently engage in a battle of insults, […]

You know the cringe-worthy old married people who openly bicker about each other in front of other people? Perhaps one of them is telling a story "for the millionth time” or the other remembers it differently and jumps in to correct the details. The first one takes offense and says something snarky. Meanwhile, everyone else […]

We all know single moms who have become displaced homemakers when a divorce occurred, and they were forced to enter the workforce for the first time in many years or perhaps the first time ever. Even if these women have college degrees, if they have gone a decade or two without putting anything new on […]

"Intentional Courtship: A Mid-Singles Guide to Peace, Progress, and Pairing Up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" will be released THIS Friday, November 5th! This is the book we desperately wished for when we became mid-singles. Since then, we have learned that a majority of the adult members of our Church are […]

When I first met my step-kids' dad, I asked him his parenting philosophy and he said, "expectations." I think many if not most parents would say the same. That was also the answer my dad gave to the same question. (By the way, I consider both of these men pretty good fathers in many ways.) […]