I received some troubling news over the weekend. My husband's brother's marriage is in one of those very difficult stages, and his wife has apparently asked for a seperation. My brother-in-law says they are in counselling and he thinks everything will work out, and I dearly hope and pray he's right! I really like his wife a lot, and I think the world of both of them. But they are coming off a really difficult year -- my brother-in-law was unemployed for most of it (though he has a great job now), and they had money trouble, her job was awful, they had a very high-strung and demanding 2-yr-old (who is now only a little mellower at 3), and some family issues on her side. Plus, I know her parents were against the marriage 6 years ago because they thought their daughter was too young and they didn't want her to drop out of college, which she chose to do in order to support my brother-in-law while he finished his degree. And, she'd planned on being a stay-at-home mother, so investing any further in her college education seemed pointless at the time. Now her mother is doing the, "I told you so, I knew you'd regret this" routine, which isn't helping matters at all.

So, I hope any of you reading my blog today will say a special prayer for my brother-in-law, his wife, his daughter and his marriage. I went here to look up patron saints for unhappy marriages and was surprised the list is so long. There must be a lot of unhappy marriages out there to warrant so many patrons. But I guess the more saintly intercession, the better -- right?

Everytime something like this hits so close to home, I look at my husband and thank God I am blessed with such a happy and solid marriage, and such a wonderful husband. I can't imagine being remotely happy without my husband, or being even a tiny bit happier with another man than I am with him. I wish everybody could feel the same way about their marriage as I do.

--Sparki