Page 86 - STMT 2nd Edition

Step Five of Marriage: Reunion

If you have children, the cooperation stage often lasts 10 to 20 years-then

suddenly it is gone.

Your parenting commitments are lessened, your finances established, your

career set, your mortgage paid.

What then? For happy couples, it is a time to appreciate each other again,

not as parents and providers but as lovers and friends, thinkers and

seekers.

Achieve this and there’s peace, happiness and reconciliation.

That all sounds wonderful but this ideal is often hard to achieve. The

embers of passion need stoking; the disillusionment and distance of

middle age need to be managed; the roles and expectations of the

marriage need recalibrating.

Step Six of Marriage: Explosion

Job loss, major health problems, a move to a new city, financial troubles,

the illness or death of a parent-as you pass through midlife and into the

golden years, major life developments seem to come one upon the other.

In the explosion phase, either you, your spouse, or both of you are dealing

with major, life-shaking events that could affect your relationship for a

day, a year, or the rest of your lives.

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