WOULD YOU STAY TRUE TO YOUR SPOUSE IF...? PART 2

This week, someone will win Deborah Raney's newly-released A Vow to Cherish. She'll be sending it, so it'll be autographed. Just comment on my blog, and your name will go into a hat for a drawing.

Worldwide Pictures made a movie from her novel, A Vow to Cherish. It's about a man with a beautiful wife and family. Then his wife gets early-onset Alzheimer's, quickly goes into demise, and ends up in a nursing home. While jogging, he meets a lovely woman, and a friendship strikes up. Eventually he's faced with a big decision--should he or shouldn't he...you know...share his love with this woman, especially since his poor wife is the way she is. I won't spoil it for you, in case you haven't read it.

I'd like to put the question to you again: "Would you stay true to your spouse if s/he became debilitated?"

I can quickly think of a couple of public examples of this scenario. The first one that comes to mind is Christopher Reeve and his wife. An actor, he had an accident while filming a movie and was left a quadraplegic. From all reports, his wife stayed true to him. I can still see images in my mind of her bent over him or stooping beside him for press pictures. The word "doting" often came to mind when I saw them.

The second public example is the Terry Schiavo case. That was publicized so much, I'm sure everyone knows about it. Michael, the husband, while his wife lay comatose for years, had a wife-in-action-only and even some kids.

What would you do?

Since this is such a weighty subject, here's something light:

Has your marriage become more of a partnership than an intimate relationship, with the focus on car pools and bills instead of cuddling and bonding? Don't feel bad--it happens to even the best marriages, says Jennifer Louden, author of The Couples' Comfort Book. "When couples don't pay attention to each other, the relationship gets stale," she says. Her advice for getting back on track?

"Kiss for at least 20 seconds twice a day." Louden says. "So many couples get into a pecking rut and forget how wonderful it can be to make out with each other."

K: In our home, we instituted a "rule:" whenever the first one leaves in the morning, s/he goes and finds the other one and gives him/her a 20-second kiss. Whenever the second one arrives home in the afternoon, s/he goes and finds the other one and gives him/her a 20-second kiss.

Try it. It's great.