From: lenona321@yahoo.com   
      
   And, from May 23rd, 1997 (as you can see, there are apparent gaps in the   
   letter, since there was only so much Google would allow me to find before I   
   hit the paywalls - please let me know if you can fill them in):   
      
   "Dear Ann Landers,   
       
   "I have been a Lutheran pastor for almost 37 years. Marriage counseling has   
   been a large part of my work. You wondered why so many World War II marriages   
   between people who didn't know each other very well lasted so long.   
      
   ...Back then, if a man had a job, came home from work with his paycheck,   
   didn't drink too much, helped with the kids, took his wife shopping once a   
   week, went to church and took a bath on Saturday night whether he needed it or   
   not, she didn't expect much    
   more and the marriage worked.   
      
   ...Today, a spouse is expected to be a soul mate, a best friend, a golf   
   partner and a psychiatrist and hold down a full-time job. She must look like   
   Cindy Crawford, and he should look like Tom Cruise. With such unrealistic   
   expectations, the pressures are    
   bound to increase and the disappointment level accelerates. It should come as   
   no surprise that after three months of marriage, couples are writing to you   
   and asking if they should send back the wedding gifts."   
      
    A Voice From the Heartland in Iowa.    
      
   "Dear Voice: You underestimate the young people of today. True, some have   
   unrealistic expectations of marriage, but by and large, I find them pretty   
   level-headed. Today, a successful marriage is a partnership,  and I see that   
   as an improvement."     
      
   (end)   
      
      
   Personally, I suspect that marriages that actually lasted between people who   
   "didn't know each other very well," ONLY did so in a fiercely anti-divorce   
   environment, regardless of which country or century they were living in. They   
   weren't necessarily    
   happy marriages.   
      
   Not to mention, of course, that near-strangers whose marriages DIDN'T last   
   were not about to write to Ann and tell her about their foolishness when there   
   was no reason to do so!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)