I Like Being Married: Treasured Traditions, Rituals and Stories

by Michael Leach, Therese J. Borchard

From the reflections of famous people and the stories of everyday folk to classic love letters and contemporary "ten best" lists, this delightfully eclectic treasury shines a spotlight on the many joys of marriage.

I Like Being Married is the ultimate celebration of the ties that keep loving couples together in good times and bad. With a guest list that includes Paul Newman and Joannne Woodward, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Queen Victoria, George Burns, and Secretary of State Colin Powell (to name just a few); poetic tributes from Homer, Shakespeare, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; and wedding readings from the Bible and other religious traditions, it captures the magic and deep-seated sense of commitment at the heart of married life.

I Like Being Married shows that the institution of marriage is integral to our common humanity. There are heartwarming stories of courtship–including Mikhail Gorbachev’s charming "Chasing Raisa" and Rosalyn Carter’s story of meeting Jimmy for the first time. Jerry Stiller, Celine Dion, and others who have broken the "rules" describe how they overcame family expectations, age differences, and other obstacles to wed the people they love. In moving and amusing portraits, husbands and wives reveal the qualities and the quirks that make their mates endearing, and vignettes by Ruby Dee, Roy Rogers, and Walter Payton capture the special joys that children bring to a marriage. Long-married couples look back on a lifetime of love–and look forward to the future with hope. Lists of the ten best books, songs, movies, and sitcoms about marriage, along with evocative illustrations, round off this unusual, multifaceted look at marital bliss.

Filled with stories, memories, and musings, I Like Being Married is not only an ideal gift for showers, weddings, and anniversaries but is the perfect way to explore the true meaning of marriage.

Genres: Marriage

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Good overall view on marriage, what it entails and what it truly is. Some of the sources are a bit sketchy.

Favorite quotes:

Love alone is capable of uniting living things in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. ~ Pierre de Chardin

They whom we love and lose are no longer where they were before. They are now wherever we are. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Squinching by Phyllis A. Tickle (Marriage in particular and general)

Is there anything more sterling than fidelity, anything more uniquely and gloriously human than a promise made and kept? Within in a universe of uncertainty, of stars searing into being and dying, (etc.), within the uncertainties and dangers of life that have always been acknowledged - death and sickness, natural disasters, human beings exert their ability to create something secure, a stable, dependable place of faith and love, a place where the strength to carry out constructive acts of generosity and compassion is engendered. ~ Patiann Roger

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of quotes and short stories about marriage from married people. Nothing earth-shattering, but pleasant read nonetheless.