This study done by BYU shows that “couples who have one member experiencing a decline in health report a happier marriage afterward.”  When I read this article to Cal his response was, “Great, so which one of us is willing to take one for the team to improve our marriage?”  I had a good laugh at that.

You can read the article here.

I can imagine there are some good reasons why this would cause improvement in a marriage, but I’m curious to know WHY exactly- so that I don’t have to take out Cal’s legs and make him wheelchair bound in order to better our marriage. 

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This is the “experience” I alluded to in “Everything They Want”.

Bethy and I got the following letter in an email prior to the passing of Proposition 8. We found it EXTREMELY insightful and I personally feel a profound respect for the author for being so bravely open and honest so as to shine a light on a dark and painful place many of us would never otherwise see. We emailed Erin and are posting it here with her permission:

By Erin Eldridge

PROPOSITION 8: A CLEAR MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN THERE

I am going to attempt the impossible: I want to try to discuss Proposition 8 in an honest, equitable manner [Read more →]

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This is the neatest video! The photography is amazing. I love that this video (made by my alma madder- yeah!) reminds me that I am part of a global family, and that we are really all the same in our purpose- young and old, rich and poor, free or bonded. The purpose? Finding joy in God and our fellow man in the everyday moments of life. What a great perspective at Christmas time.

Watch the video here. Enjoy!

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Several years ago I was attending UNLV as a vocal performance major. At the beginning of the semester I met another student who was a piano performance major and shared my passion for music. Since I was in need of an accompanist and he was required to find a vocal major to accompany, we teamed up and worked hard preparing and performing in several concerts and performance classes. We found that in music tastes we had a lot in common and through the course of the semester became good friends.

One day while we were practicing he asked me an unexpected question. He had learned that I was a Mormon through several of our conversations and asked “Why is it that the Mormon church makes such a big deal about gay people?” I could tell by his manner that there was some weight to this question, not a mere curiosity. [Read more →]

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My sister-in-law emailed this video link and I died laughing! It feels just like the kind of video you’d gather round and laugh about with your family, especially in light of all the recent controversy.  Enjoy!

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In an entry I wrote in ‘Our Corner’ I mentioned the debate on the definition of ‘Family.’ I wanted to give another aspect of my point of view on the matter, and it seems more appropriate to do it here in ‘The Family Room.’

I believe the debate we are seeing in the world around us in regards to family definition is heading toward an inevitable chasm of separation [Read more →]

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I saw a piece on the news last night about high school students and cheating. A national survey on honesty and ethics was given to 30,000 students in high schools across the U.S. As was reported, ‘the results paint a troubling picture of our future politicians and parents, cops and corporate executives, and journalists and generals.’ [Read more →]

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http://www.welt.de/english-news/article2373051/Forbes-list-2008.html

I saw a link to this article but was disappointed when I looked through all of the top one hundred and didn’t find one picture of Bethy! All of these women were considered the “most powerful” for their ability to talk, sell things, or tell other people what to do (granted, I’m over simplifying) [Read more →]

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Hello everyone,

The Family Room is the place where we get together to talk about, well . . . families. But in here we invite everyone to share and discuss their views on family in the context of how it’s being affected by public attitudes, politics, and media.

Come on in and take off your shoes. We like things to be comfortable, informal, and open in our family room. Whether you have an opinion, an idea, a question, or just want to give a reference to something you’ve seen that you want to bring to everyone’s attention, we encourage you to do so here.

We submit to you that it’s easy to submit something by clicking the button labeled ’submit.’ It can be as long as a book or as short as copying and pasting a link. If it’s important to you, remember that it will be important to someone else who needs to hear it. So, don’t sit quietly and let the loud mouths do all the talking. Speak up! Let your voice be heard and remember . . . we’re all family!

Calvin and Bethany

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