[ISUKappa]

Personally, I do think counseling (both pre-marriage and, if necessary, marital) *can* help couples take their relationship to a different place, be it learning how to reconnect with each other or decide there is simply no love left and it is time to part ways.

I agree with Monet and Susan: marriage is work and it's not all romance, all the time. I think younger couples especially have skewed ideas of what a marriage is like and when they're hit with the reality of it, they're unsure they made the right decision.

The husband and I will celebrate our 4th anniversary in Sept. Do I love him? Yes. Do I *like* some of the things he does? Hell no. Sometimes he's a complete idiot and I let him know in not-so-nice ways. We get on each other's nerves. We are not the best communicators (and we know this). We argue. There are times I wish I would have waited a few years before getting married so I could have more experiences on my own. But we get through those moments. I married him, not only because of romantic attachment, but because we are compatable in so many other ways from our backgrounds to our religious beliefs to what we want in our future to our cracked-out sense of humors. Romantic attachment alone will not keep a marriage working, there also has to be mutual respect and compatability.