Recipe For A Successful Marriage:
3 cups Tenderness
1 cup Commitment
1 cup Consideration
1 cup Courtesy
2 cups Unselfish support
2 cups Milk of human kindness
1 gallon Faith in God and in each other

Add:
2 cups -- Praise
3 cups -- Cooperation
1 small pinch of in-laws
1 realistic financial budget
3 T pure extract of "I am sorry"
1 cup Contentment
2 cups of open and honest communication

1 cup each:
Confidence
Encouragement
Supportive friends
Blindness to each other's faults
Individual interests and hobbies

Mix in:
Several mutual activities and hobbies. Flavor with occasional tokens of your love and a dash of happy memories. Stir well and remove any specks of temper, jealousy, or criticism. Sweeten well with a generous portion of love and keep warm with a steady flame of devotion. Never serve with a hot tongue or cold shoulder.

"Stand together yet not too near...
Let there be spaces in your togetherness...
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup...
Remember, the oak tree and
the cypress do not grow in each other's shadow."

 © The American Wedding Guide 2002