Some red-haired chick named Gabriele Pauli , who drives a motorcycle and has been married twice, is running for office in Germany. One of her brilliant ideas is that marriage should expire after seven years.
“The basic approach is wrong … many marriages last just because people believe they are safe,” she told reporters. “My suggestion is that marriages expire after seven years.”
Her opposition says things like, “She is diametrically contradicting our Christian, ethical values,” and calls her ideas “the dirt under your fingernails.” Actually, I would have to agree that the seven year time limit is one of the most ridiculous ideas I’ve heard in a while.
Now here is a picture of what a committed, enduring marriage should be like. In “Musings on my Marriage,” someone who’s been happily married for over seven years (gasp!) talks about his relationship, his wife and the good times they have together. For example? “We’re married, and we flirt. And I tell you this; there is no one else on this earth I would sooner flirt with; not even any of those fresh-faced high school girls. They won’t look near as good as Nina 20 years down the road, and none of them have her heart and brain… Besides, she’s my best friend, on top of it all…My lover. My partner. My best friend. I can’t see how marriages collapse. Yes, we have had to work to get here, but haven’t you ever worked in some task, and despite the sweat and the aches and the time involved, you found yourself enjoying the work, particularly if you’re working WITH someone? …That’s marriage, a genuine labor of love.”
I’d like to know what Gabriele has to say about that.
I suspect that Pauli would say that Nina and I are the “exception.” Which is crap. We are not “average”, but we are “normal”, as in normative.
Meanwhile, thanks for the notice!!