Free Republic

The popular “try before you buy” mentality may be helpful when buying a car, but not necessarily when preparing for marriage. As summarized by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, “What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas,” so be careful what you do before marriage. wedding photo With so much attention given to the definition of marriage, the discussion about successful traditional marriages can often be neglected or overlooked. Left to educate the world on how to create a lasting and meaningful marriage are Hollywood and magazine stands—businesses that thrive on popularity and not necessarily...

MaryAnne Lopes of Windham, Maine, had no intentions of pulling threads from the nation’s social fabric by living with her then boyfriend, Joe. She just wanted to save some money. The couple, who celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary on Sunday, moved in together because it was cheaper and because she was living with her parents following a divorce from her first husband. “You try telling my father, the Reverend Dr. Young, I will not be home tonight!” she said, laughing about dates with Joe. But while Lopes, now 40, considered her protestant minister father’s possible discomfort with overnighters, he raised...

So I have been trying to rent an apartment in my home...and all I have answering the ads are boyfriends and girlfriends. No matter what social status, no matter what income level, I am seeing unmarried twenty, thirty and forty year old couples who want to live together. If I question them, they don't even understand why I am asking. These are Christians and Jews. I was so surprised to find that it would be so difficult to find a young married couple. Tell me Dear Freeper...am I totally out of the ballgame to expect to find a young married...