There have been thirteen Marriage Conferences in Bryn Athyn since I started my job as director of Marriage Programs in 2007. Technically, the first one occurred before I was hired, and was part of the masters program I was engaged in before that. The others followed like a necklace of events each Valentine's Day until 2018, with a marvelous array of workshops focused on supporting marriages. 

As an encore, there will be one more in 2025, God willing, as I wind down in my last months of this effort. It has been sweet to reread the booklets that detail the many presenters who contributed to those weekends. Some of the speakers have died. Others who offered talks as single people have married. The man who carried the lion's share of formatting and printing those booklets, as well as every sign and registration form, has graduated to a Place where his talents are no doubt used in ways he couldn't imagine. I miss him. 

It is with gratitude and curiosity that I try one more time to craft a day in which people both married and unmarried can give attention to this sometimes elusive goal of blending two lives into one. 

Plus, the children will have the chance to make their own rope.