SeacoastOnline.com

What are the odds a marriage will end in divorce? According to the Gottman Institute, which has been studying marriage and family trends more than three decades, the unfortunate answer is 50 percent. Its research shows that married couples are facing daunting challenges to relationship stability and survival, indicating that the family unit in our culture is in a state of crisis. In addition, couples wait an average of six years from the first rumblings of conflict before seeking help, resulting in significant damage, higher stakes as families grow, and challenging repair efforts in marital therapy.

Many factors contribute to marital conflict, and while every couple is unique in how and why discord develops, it is a normal challenge of married life. First, no matter how much a couple has in common, there are always individual differences that contribute to relationship dynamics and patterns.

Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091019-LIFE-910190304

The Times

Robert Smilow’s family business has been on a downturn over the last five years. The textile company, which designs and makes patterns for clothing manufacturers and once employed 15 people, has lost business to China due to the policies of the federal government, Smilow says.

“The way our government has structured our import and export taxes, it has decimated the business,” Smilow said. “You can buy directly from China instead of from me.” With its export business in trouble, the company suffered a crippling blow from the recession, and Smilow expects to be unemployed by January. The 43-year-old Hamilton Square man had separated from his wife six years ago. Their original agreement was that Smilow pay her $4,500 per month for alimony and child support for his children, who are 8 and 10, plus pick up the expenses for their children’s camp and sports. He also paid for the family’s health and car insurance.

Source: http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1254116713249790.xml&coll=5

Stars and Stripes

It’s been six years, three weeks and one day since Navy Cmdr. Paul Toland last saw his only child, Erika — one of 118 Japanese-American children living in Japan and cut off from their American parents.  “I count every day,” Toland said. “You can’t lose track.”  Toland’s emotional tally began July 13, 2003, when he returned from work to discover his wife had surreptitiously moved out of their home in a Navy housing complex in Yokohama, Japan, taking Erika — just 9 months old at the time — with her.

Toland’s estranged wife, a native of Japan who became a U.S. citizen during their marriage, moved to Tokyo and barred him from visiting his daughter. Her actions likely would have resulted in felony kidnapping charges in the United States but were essentially protected by Japanese criminal and family laws, which do not recognize parental child abduction as a crime and do not acknowledge foreign custody orders.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64003