From Engagement La-La Land to Marriage Reality Land

From Engagement La-La Land to Marriage Reality Land
Marriage prep workshops provide a reality check for future brides and grooms. Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
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For the past 30 years, my husband, Mike, and I have spent time with engaged couples preparing for marriage through the Pre-Cana program. In the early years, each couple came to our home three times, and we’d spend about two hours exchanging ideas about marriage and family. It was a challenge fitting these Pre-Cana evenings into our lives while raising four sons, but it helped Mike and I keep a vigilant watch over our relationship.

To say the couples arrived with a bit of apprehension would be an understatement. Occasionally, they’d sit with arms crossed, on opposite sides of the couch. We imagined on the drive over they must have been “discussing” seating arrangements, meddling future in-laws, and “Why in the world are we doing this Pre-Cana thing?”

Bernadette Bonanno
Bernadette Bonanno
Author
Bernadette Bonanno lives in Albany, N.Y.
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