www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Attention all men!

"to the old ball and chain"?!?!!! -- ROFLOL!!!

...That really tickled my funny bone for some reason!

Bob,

You romantic devil! I assume your wife does not read your forum posts.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

AMEN!

Because of a precarious twist of financial fortune, I actually have FOUR other dogs in the care of great and glorious friends to whom I can only one day hope to have the ability to repay for their kindness.

When the day comes that in the next two to three months that Mr. Dog, Blondie, Stevie, Princess, Sarge and Zoom-Zoom will all be with me under one roof, I will be a happy, happy man.

To know the affection of a dog is to have the begining of a decent understanding of how very loving a God our God must be. Not to be panthiestic or odd, but I think it a legitimate excercise in thanksgiving to experience the wonder and frienship of creation through canines and say "Thank you God for making such a delightful and beautiful world!" Only a loving God

And YES, mom does love baklava, Alice... Allergies aside, who can't?

Hey all,

Let's remember to put the saint back in St. Valentine's Day. I'm beginning to see a few more cards every year that have brought the St. back.

Father Anthony:

Father bless!!

You're right; she doesn't. But that's still where I go for cards. I get a lot more mileage that way.

I mentioned this once at a seminar where we were all asked to go around the table and introduce ourselves and talk about our marriages and children, etc. The young woman right next to me was amazed that I had been married for 22 years to the same woman--she said she didn't know anyone in her family or among her friends' families that could say the same thing. But she did nudge her husband on the other side of her to take note. Apparently she didn't like the anniversary card she'd gotten that year.

BOB

Alice:

I actually saw a card like that once in a card section that was supposed to be funny. Somehow I didn't see it that way. It conjured up images for me of the same people who write to Dear Abby wondering why things are strained.

BOB

ALICE and FATHER ANTHONY:

There's another part of this that often is missed. I've told my son this and tell every person I come across who is either married or wants to be so.

Every morning I look in the mirror and tell myself that "my wife is the most wonderful and beautiful woman in the world. God has given her to me as His gift to me. I can look at another but don't need any other because I've got the best of all the rest."
Emphasis on "God's gift to me." There are no accidents; I am married to this woman for some reason that I don't even understand.

All of the self-help books tell us that what you tell yourself inside your head is what you come to believe. Just as using the prayerbook over time sends the phrases and the underlying sentiments deep into the soul, so this type of self-talk helps leaven one's mind and heart. My advice for keeping on track and trying to avoid the temptation toward marital unfaithfulness and ongoing anger or fights is to do that.

Yes, there are times when people don't get to the realization of these few sentences fully. But this brings my own focus back on track.

Anyway, that's my quarter's worth this morning.

BOB

Dear Bob,

You are a good and honourable man!

God bless you,
Alice

The Evil Secular monster got to me and I bought cards. Of course you could say I was being a good capitalist by infusing my money back into the economy.

That's very beautiful.

I'm a confirmed card-hater. Perhaps "Hallmark Hater" would be a better term, but I very seriously will use a yellow sticky before anything made by Hallmark or any of its subsidiaries. Time and again, they run campaigns measuring your devotion or care by using their brand, and even encouraging card recipients to gague the card by flipping it over to check the brand (It's almost impossible to find any other brand these days, though).

I do buy plenty of flowers (and tend to sotck up on other little things to have at a moment's notice), often from the street vendors. Yesterday, she got one yellow rose and four ready-to-plant rose bushes.

hawk

hawk:

I have a built-in excuse for never buying flowers.

Whe I first started dating my wife, I had little money but went one day and bought her a beautiful bouquet. Her mother met me at the door and ask, "Who died today?" She assumed that I'd swiped the flowers from a funeral basket and just given them to her daughter second-hand.

So my next floral gift was on our 25th wedding anniversary--a silk arrangement that I had delivered to Loretta's school at lunch time. I loved her remark when they said the florist had come, "There must be some mistake; my husband never sends me flowers." And she told me she'd related the story of her mother's remark and everyone had a big laugh. I figure I'm off the hook for another 25 years.

(So, Alice, I may not be the nice guy you think I am. I don't buy flowers. )

BOB