Men I've Loved Before: An unputdownable tale of modern-day marriage

he still swam in an ocean of gratitude that he went to sleep beside her every night and woke up with her every morning—so marriage had made perfect sense. But creating a new person, and raising him or her, was an entirely different proposition.

When we first met I bought him a briefcase for his birthday—something he saw in a store window and loved—and it had two tickets to Paris inside. This year I gave him a DVD and we celebrated with a couple of friends by eating a meat loaf his mother had made.

But if you are married, you are stuck with the person. They consider “my house” to be “their house.” Even if they begin to wear on you, they won’t be going “home.” Marriage means you are their home.