Were they soulmates or just lucky? It depends on how you define soulmates. If you define a soulmate as your cosmic twin, then I'd say no these people were very different types that hooked up and stayed happy together for life. In one example, woman was a devout Catholic and husband was just sort of generic Christian. She didn't try to convert him and he respected her need to go to mass every Sunday. No, he didn't become any more or less of a Christian then he already was. They each respected other's right to be who they were. Nobody tried to change anybody. Who they fell in love with is who they stayed in love with. In another example, he was from an extremely conservative religion and she was very lightly Christian. She completely changed her entire way of life to be with him. She gave up makeup, stylish haircuts, jewelry and sexy clothes to become almost Amish in her life with him. She never regretted it because he was everything to her and she came to agree with his family's religious beliefs. In none of relationships were couples a twin copy of other. Yes, every one of those couples struggled in first years of their marriage to find a balance between 'me' and 'we'. Every one of those couples had to learn to listen, to compromise, to be fully present in moment, and to show their love in a way that resonated with other. However, they all managed to live that elusive 'happily ever after' that rest of us only dream of.

If you define a soulmate as right one for you, one you were meant to spend rest of your life with, one specially designed to create 'happily ever after' with you, then yes, they were soulmates. No matter how bad things got, these couples never ever contemplated divorce. They didn't stay together because of a vow before God. They stayed together because they couldn't fathom concept of not loving other one. Every morning they woke up knowing they were both in love. Every night they went to sleep knowing they were both in love.

Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge

“Make it a priority,” my mother would respond. “Children are result of marriage, not reason for it.”

Like a lot of couples, my husband and I had forgotten that. We’d completely wrapped ourselves up in our children and their needs. We started losing sight of each other, but we knew that if we didn’t make time for our relationship, our children would grow up and we’d be left behind, looking at each other and wondering, “Who heck is this person?”

So we decided to make it a goal to go out on a date once a month (once a week is better, according to my mother), and I heartily recommend you do same. If your husband is reluctant, don’t guilt trip him into “taking” you out. You’re not luggage. Instead, remind him that you love him, and tell him that you miss having him to yourself. That should convince him.

I’m not going to pretend it’s ever easy to squeeze a date onto a calendar of never-ending responsibilities. It isn’t. My husband and I had dinner plans tonight, but we had to cancel due to an event at our daughters’ school. It's disappointing, but it won’t deter us. We’ll just reschedule our night out for next week.

We've made it a priority because, as my mother counseled, our happy marriage depends on it.