Yes, and with the particular demoralization – in this case meaning the stripping away of morals – of east Europeans by communism it is tougher. I merely point out that it is not impossible. And that we ought to remember that Bill is a remarkably rational guy and a very bright one. He may just know what he's doing.

Turned out that someone had been updating themes across Blogger – my theme was borked. Switched to another theme and fixed it.

I would like to believe that this holds true in this day and age, sir. I really would.

I know that this was possible in the past. Your example, and that of my own parents, and that of my father's sister, prove this. But back then, the sacrament of marriage as an oath sworn between two people before God still held force and power.

But I find it hard to believe in such things these days. What with the culture in the disastrous state that it's in, and the withering of the concept of the extended family, the permanence of marriage and the willingness of both parties to work through their problems as a team has disappeared.

I do hope that I am wrong and that Bill and his future wife- and all others like them- are happy with each other to the end of their time on this Earth. I really do. But such things are now the rare exception, not the norm.

Short version; when you know, you know.

Strange. I was able to access the post just fine. Good post, too.

In a nutshell, according to the CDC's own statistics: there is only a 6.6% chance that a first marriage will survive 10 years. That's a 93.4% chance that it will fail within 10 years.