The cover story of this week’s TIME Magazine is titled, “Who Needs Marriage? A Changing Institution” Read the story here.
The state of marriage is shifting in unexpected ways. A TIME/Pew special report shows how income, age and experience alter our chances of wedded bliss. The article concludes with a question about the future of marriage as we know it– will it be replaced by other forms of cohabitation, will it even last as is, and so on. The question is duly answered as follows: “And as a successful marriage increasingly becomes the relationship equivalent of a luxury yacht — hard to get, laborious to maintain but a better vessel to be on when there are storms at sea — its status is unlikely to drop.”
Hard to get and laborious to maintain? Yes, that is the perfect definition of a successful marriage! And the yacht metaphor couldn’t be more perfect, really, because that’s just what it is– a reliable luxury vessel negotiating the daily storms of life. And the fact that it is a yacht makes it somewhat reliable, but also makes it high-maintenance! But if maintained well, it is then also comforting to know that you will most likely make it on that rough sea, even whilst the storms rage on, and the winds toss your vessel about.
Well, here’s an example of tending to your yacht, aka, marriage. This is a copy of an e-mail message (verbatim) written by my husband to me just days ago– that to me is nothing short of a love-letter. Even after all these years, he writes to me with the same level of affection and detail as he did when I first met him– on a matter that couldn’t be more mundane! Considering whether or not to make a household purchase is a routine matter, of course, but the manner in which such a topic is discussed, the patience employed to present the facts to me, the egalitarian approach to sharing the details of the task at hand, the gentle request to have me do my part, the use of punctuation to express lightheartedness and humor (including the use of emoticons!), and finally, the affectionate sign-off are all sure and clear indicators of engaging in superb maintenance of that yacht!
And so, I am here to tell you that I am indeed one of the lucky ones who can claim to have a successful marriage that is the equivalent of a luxury yacht! In this institution called marriage, the passage of time ought to refine our tools of communication, not erode them. And if this is the state of my yacht after seventeen years, I do have some comfort in hoping that I might not fare too badly for the future storms that come our way. The yacht is in reasonably good condition for now, so to speak!
Oh, and what about that TV, you ask? Well, it’s a beauty, of course!
p.s. ummm, and yes, the best of luxury yachts and even ships do go down ocassionally, but at least not without a fight!
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from: Sunder Isaac
to: Smriti D. Isaac Date: Nov 26, 2010 at 10:11 AM
subject: 37 ” tv for bedrooms seems to be the ideal fit
hi honey:
I have researched the tv thing extensively and it appears that the best size for our bedroom combined with extended viewing would be a 37″ tv set. This is also a happy compromise between the 32 inches one that i was proposing and your desire for a 40-42 inch tv. The 40-42 inch tv is best viewed with surround systems, as the experts recommend, and the 37 inch screen is only 3 inches less than the 40 inch screen, 🙂
Checking various brands for picture clarity, features in the tv, and realiablity, it appears that the Toshiba 37 inch tv at best buy may be the best bet. Here is the link for it.
It is being sold for 499, which is 100 less than what it retails for (599). The 4 year protection plan is 89$ which we should take. So it looks like for a little over 600 bucks we could have a great tv in our bedroom!
By the way the wall width door to door is about 51 inches, and this tv’s width is 37″ and should therefore fit well there.
I have just now called and verified that this model is available, so if you could go down and pick it up, we could set it up over the weekend.
love you,
s
Reflecting on the joys of having a loving husband who breathes life into Leonard Cohen’s song, “I’m Your Man”!