Reading about how the Michael Jackson and Jon and Kate Gosselin families plan to handle their respective custody arrangements has been interesting. But not every family has the means...

Summer is all about relaxing the rules a bit, isn't it? We get to stay up a little later, sleep in a little more, and indulge ourselves in guilt-free...

Update: On Monday, June 29, 2009, Katherine Jackson was granted temporary custody of all three children. I'm sure by now that we all have opinions about who should...

Whenever we see a commercial for the Bridezillas television show or read news about out of control brides and grooms, we cringe. Don't these people sense that their chances of having a happy marriage are slim? Dr. John Gottman has a mathematical equation that predicts with 94 percent accuracy whether or not a marriage will last. Now, a wedding planner, Samantha Goldberg, shares five signs that "are predictors of whether a couple will live happily ever after or bite the dust." The signs that Goldberg mentions in the Cosmopolitan article include choosing the wedding cake, interferring mothers, the wedding dress, the bachelor party, and how a couple argues. We agree with her. Red flags are warning signs. They are alerts that things are not right in a relationship and that the couple needs help. There are ways that a couple can lower their odds for divorce before they marry. Goldberg shared an example of an engaged couple she refused to work with because she was sure the marriage wouldn't last. It would be great if wedding officiants made the same decision when they recognized a couple in trouble. A couple could then postpone the wedding and attend an additional premarital workshop if they truly want a successful marriage. Photo: Don Farrall / Getty Images

As we read through the news reports today about the Sanford saga, we were shocked to see these stupid statements. The first comment is a very depressing view of marriage. The other comments from Mark Sanford reveal he is still in love with his mistress and is defending his cheating. He sure doesn't sound like a man who wants to save his marriage. 1. "For most Christians, at some point in your marriage, if you're married long enough, you do it because that's what we're called to do -- out of obedience instead of out of passion. And I think that's where Mark and Jenny are right now." Warren "Cubby" Culbertson, the Sanford's spiritual advisor per HuffingtonPost.com. 2. "I'm quite certain that there were a handful of instances [with several other women] wherein I crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man but never crossed the ultimate line." Gov. Mark Sanford per CBSNews.com. 3. "This [relationship with Chapur] was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story. A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day." Gov. Mark Sanford per NYTimes.com. 4. "I owe it too much to my boys and to the last 20 years with Jenny to not try this larger walk of faith [trying to fall back in love with Jenny.]" Gov. Mark Sanford per NYTimes.com. 5. "It was wonderful. Something that I've never been able to put my hands on was there. I remember there was an older couple sitting to our right, and I remember them watching us, in the way that we interacted. They could see a spark, or, I don't know what you'd call it, but there was something there." Gov. Mark Sanford per CBSNews.com. 6. "I will be able to die knowing that I had met my soul mate [Chapur]. But it was one of those things, I knew the cost." Gov. Mark Sanford per Associated Press. Hopefully, you agree with us that folks in long lasting marriages are together out of love and passion and not out of a sense of obligation and that Mark Sanford needs to quit defending his affair.

In her article, "On marriage: Let's call the whole thing off", author Sandra Tsing Loh asks the question, "isn't the idea of lifelong marriage obsolete?" Our answer to her question -- No. We disagree with Loh's negative thoughts about marriage and her alternatives to marriage. Not all couples who find themselves in a rut, troubled by a lack of sex in their marriage, coping with a cheating spouse, or other issues, decide to throw in the towel. There are many reasons that successful long lasting marriages exist. Along with love, respect, forgiveness, and being able to laugh together, these couples know how to communicate. And yes, they do keep their romance alive. Poll:      Is the idea of lifelong marriage obsolete? Vote!