Posted on 06/30/2008 10:26:42 PM PDT by JustAmy
Thank you Meg
I’m going to be gone for awhile; I’m feeling a little sick so I’m going to take a nap. Hope to get back later.
Billie .... thank you for that beautiful graphic used in today’s Welcome ping.
Cardhu .... thank you for the hummingbird presentation.
Meg ..... thank you for bringing more wonderful graphic here to share.
Yorkie .... thank you for the DisneyLand links and your other contributions.
Jaycee ..... thank you for your contributions. Hope you had a wonderful two days.
OESY .... Thank you for the DisneyLand posts and the post for LEXOPHILES.
Mayor ..... thank you for continuing to start our mornings with our daily scripture lesson.
Will try to get back later.
Hope everyone is having a great day.
An Ideal Husband
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: July 6, 2008
This weekend, we celebrate our great American pastime: messy celebrity divorces.
There’s the Christie Brinkley/Peter Cook fireworks on Long Island and the Madonna/Guy Ritchie/A-Rod Roman candle in New York.
So how do you avoid a relationship where you end up saying, “The man who I was living with, I just didn’t know who he was” — as Brinkley did in court when talking about her husband’s $3,000-a-month Internet porn and swinger site habit? (Not to mention the 18-year-old mistress/assistant.)
Father Pat Connor, a 79-year-old Catholic priest born in Australia and based in Bordentown, N.J., has spent his celibate life — including nine years as a missionary in India — mulling connubial bliss. His decades of marriage counseling led him to distill some “mostly common sense” advice about how to dodge mates who would maul your happiness.
“Hollywood says you can be deeply in love with someone and then your marriage will work,” the twinkly eyed, white-haired priest says. “But you can be deeply in love with someone to whom you cannot be successfully married.”
For 40 years, he has been giving a lecture — “Whom Not to Marry” — to high school seniors, mostly girls because they’re more interested.
“It’s important to do it before they fall seriously in love, because then it will be too late,” he explains. “Infatuation trumps judgment.”
I asked him to summarize his talk:
“Never marry a man who has no friends,” he starts. “This usually means that he will be incapable of the intimacy that marriage demands. I am always amazed at the number of men I have counseled who have no friends. Since, as the Hebrew Scriptures say, ‘Iron shapes iron and friend shapes friend,’ what are his friends like? What do your friends and family members think of him? Sometimes, your friends can’t render an impartial judgment because they are envious that you are beating them in the race to the altar. Envy beclouds judgment.
“Does he use money responsibly? Is he stingy? Most marriages that founder do so because of money — she’s thrifty, he’s on his 10th credit card.
“Steer clear of someone whose life you can run, who never makes demands counter to yours. It’s good to have a doormat in the home, but not if it’s your husband.
“Is he overly attached to his mother and her mythical apron strings? When he wants to make a decision, say, about where you should go on your honeymoon, he doesn’t consult you, he consults his mother. (I’ve known cases where the mother accompanies the couple on their honeymoon!)
“Does he have a sense of humor? That covers a multitude of sins. My mother was once asked how she managed to live harmoniously with three men — my father, brother and me. Her answer, delivered with awesome arrogance, was: ‘You simply operate on the assumption that no man matures after the age of 11.’ My father fell about laughing.
“A therapist friend insists that ‘more marriages are killed by silence than by violence.’ The strong, silent type can be charming but ultimately destructive. That world-class misogynist, Paul of Tarsus, got it right when he said, ‘In all your dealings with one another, speak the truth to one another in love that you may grow up.’
“Don’t marry a problem character thinking you will change him. He’s a heavy drinker, or some other kind of addict, but if he marries a good woman, he’ll settle down. People are the same after marriage as before, only more so.
“Take a good, unsentimental look at his family — you’ll learn a lot about him and his attitude towards women. Kay made a monstrous mistake marrying Michael Corleone! Is there a history of divorce in the family? An atmosphere of racism, sexism or prejudice in his home? Are his goals and deepest beliefs worthy and similar to yours? I remember counseling a pious Catholic woman that it might not be prudent to marry a pious Muslim, whose attitude about women was very different. Love trumped prudence; the annulment process was instigated by her six months later.
“Imagine a religious fundamentalist married to an agnostic. One would have to pray that the fundamentalist doesn’t open the Bible and hit the page in which Abraham is willing to obey God and slit his son’s throat.
“Finally: Does he possess those character traits that add up to a good human being — the willingness to forgive, praise, be courteous? Or is he inclined to be a fibber, to fits of rage, to be a control freak, to be envious of you, to be secretive?
“After I regale a group with this talk, the despairing cry goes up: ‘But you’ve eliminated everyone!’ Life is unfair.”
Cardi, again thank you for your presentations. I have a couple questions though........
a) Do you (or anyone else) know what that white stuff is on the hummingbirds beaks? It appears on several different birds. Perhaps it is pollen? I feed hummingbirds all year, and have never seen that.
b) I was unable to get any music on the Presentation. Am I the only one?
Regarding the Maureen Dowd article, my late husband always told everybody, “There’s three little words that save every marriage, if used often, and spoken with a smile.”
Of course, everyone always thought he was going to say, “I love you.”
“Nope”, he would say. “The most important three little words are these................, ‘You’re right, dear.’ “
I have overwritten the Presentation with a WAV version of the music — I do not know if I have to make a new link but you can try it now and if you do not get the music I will make a new link.
...you are right dear...
I think the white stuff is a sort to comb probably of the male birds.
NOW, I get music. Thanks, Cardi!
Just now viewed “Hummingbirds” and it was beautiful. Loved that sweet music also! Thanks, Cardhu!
I’ll bet Mama_Bear has some pictures of hummingbirds to share.............:-)
I’m sure she does....she has graphics concerning about any subject, I bet!
I have a few graphics but locating them...you can locate things quicker than anyone I know. We can just say something and you will find a graphic. How do you file?
I go to ‘google - images’, type in the name of the subject I am searching for - and when I find it, I right click ‘save image’ - give it a name, and save it - then go to tinypic, and upload the name - voila. Then post it here.
If you want me to be more specific, I will FReepmail you, JC. (I think I am still a ‘noobie’, here. LOL!)
I find images everywhere and I do the same ‘Save as’ and then I just file them in my computer. When I post I go to Tinypic too and search and post. It probably just takes me longer.
A while ago when I was searching I had to reduce the size of the pic and darn, someway I lost FR and had to get back online at FR. That was unusual though. I think its because my back is hurting. LOL~~~ What else is new?
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