Family Matters

I am a 64 year old man with a strong belief in God. I have been married to the same woman for over 40 years and have been blessed with three great children, their spouses, and five grandchildren so far. I have been able to earn an advanced degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, getting ready to quit a full-time job, am no longer in debt, and can take an occasional vacation. So, why have I decided to take on a blog?

Simple, I was raised in a very different time and culture and have seen the world my family and I live in change incredibly over the years. I am worried about the future of my children, grandchildren and the generations to follow. I am scared that the very foundation of any civilization, the family, is under attack (and losing).

During my six plus decades on earth, I have seen incredible accomplishments. Buck Rogers went from a cartoon to real life, I can talk over a TV screen to someone thousands of miles away, and I don’t even have to get off the couch to change a TV channel! I have lived through positive social changes and unbelievable medical accomplishments. Pretty incredible for someone who grew up with black and white TV and when all TV networks stopped broadcasting in the middle of the night. There was no such thing as auto correct and voice recognition was a child’s ability to discern if a parent or teacher was angry with them.

So, what scares me? All those wondrous changes have produced a dark side that is threatening the essence of the family unit. The family unit has become fodder for “reality TV”, fathers are portrayed as idiots, mothers as all powerful and children as incredibly wonderful creatures whose every word should be taken seriously.

This blog is my attempt to make a difference, to help parents keep their relationships strong and to raise moral and functional children despite the problems that modern life throws at them.

I am not just a person with a fancy degree and training. I have lived through problems.   I have stood on line for free cheese, my children thought that Salvation Army was a designer label, and we comforted each other in times of loss. There were times my marriage was stressed and our kids challenged our sanity. That is the journey that has given me my greatest education! That is the experience that I wish to share with you!