Category Archives: Marriage & Divorce
Marriage comment about Jami-Lee Ross is 'vicious' tactic – Winston Peters
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says bringing up the marital status of Jami-Lee Ross is a “vicious” tactic that shows the National Party has no substantive defence against Ross’ bombshell allegations.
Ross told reporters yesterday he was marched into National leader Simon Bridges’ office about three weeks ago and told of four independent accusations of harassment from women.
He said he was to be stripped of his portfolios and dumped on the backbenches, and when he tried to find out more information about the allegations, Bridges threatened him.
“I asked for details. I was not given any … He told me if I kept asking for natural justice, that it would not be just four women. It would be 15 women.”
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Last night, National deputy leader Paula Bennett said the leadership team raised issues with Ross – but it wasn’t about harassment.
“At no point was the matter of sexual harassment ever put to Jami-Lee Ross,” Bennett told the Herald.
“What was put to him was inappropriate behaviour that is unacceptable from a married Member of Parliament.”
This afternoon, Peters said the mention of Ross’ marital status was not “a sound strategy on her part”.
“I thought an MP making those sorts of statements is on seriously dangerous ground.
“It was underhanded, vicious, uncalled for. When you see those sorts of tactics, it means you’re bereft of any defence, and now you’re playing for sheer hurt.”
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones agreed.
“Marriage discussions in politics are a quagmire, and the notion that Paula, of all people, should be offering marital advice is dangerous territory.”
Asked to explain what that meant, Jones added: “Leave those matters in the province of personal influence. Don’t bring them into the world of professional politics.”
Peters said it was clear that Ross, who says he has a taped phone conversation with Bridges and is laying a formal complaint with police about alleged electoral donation fraud, was getting sound legal advice.
“He has already quoted, to my knowledge, two statements from that tape. If that tape stands up, then the National Party is in serious trouble.”
Bridges and the National Party have invited any police probe, confident they would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Busy Philipps: Michelle Williams saved my marriage
Busy Philipps has credited best pal Michelle Williams with saving her marriage to Marc Silverstein.
The 39-year-old actress has 10-year-old Birdie and five-year-old Cricket with the producer – whom she married in 2007 – but says that when her love life hit a rough patch, she sought emotional support in the arms of another man, and considered getting a divorce.
Writing in her new memoir ‘This Will Only Hurt a Little’, Busy said: “There was a man I was friends with, another dad. We’d been having lunch and stuff. Texting. Talking on the phone a lot. Honestly, I had a crush on him. I like him. Maybe I even loved him? He clearly liked me too.”
Busy says she confronted Marc and told him she wanted a divorce, to which he asked her for another chance.
And when thinking about her options, she says her best friend Michelle Williams urged her to try and “keep her family intact”.
Recalling the advice Michelle – who has 12-year-old daughter Matilda with former boyfriend Heath Ledger, who passed away just months after they split – gave her, Busy wrote in her book: “[Michelle said] It would be really awful for two years and then you would find a new normal but honestly, if you can keep your family intact, I think you should do it.”
The former ‘Dawson’s Creek’ star also sought the opinion of a therapist, who told her: “Listen. Divorce f***s up children. It just does.”
Busy and Marc later started attending therapy separately to work on their issues, and are still together today.
She wrote: “This time, Marc got his own therapist. And we started to work through it. But I also kept talking to my emotional boyfriend (for lack of a better term). I know. That part is so s**t. I’m sorry. I really am. I really truly am.”
Married a Thousand Times (He's the Rabbi)
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Married a Thousand Times (He’s the Rabbi)
Rabbi Scott Colbert has married more than 1,000 couples over the last 45 years in many states and countries, including Costa Rica and Israel. “I’m at the point where I’m marrying the children of the parents I married three or four decades ago,” said Rabbi Colbert, who is 71 and recently retired. Both a rabbi and cantor, he started his career in the 1970s in San Antonio at Temple Beth El. He later spent 30 years in Atlanta, completing his career as head rabbi at Temple Emanu-El there.
In August, he and his wife, Karen Abrams Colbert, who reside in Sandy Springs, Ga., celebrated their 50th anniversary. Today he still marries approximately 50 couples a year.
What differentiates you from other rabbis? All couples need some counseling. I adhere to a 168-question survey. It’s a psychological examination that looks at 12 to 14 different areas: financial planning, communication skills, closeness, flexibility, family, each other, expectations of marriage, and sexual compatibility. They take the quiz separately, but we go over the answers together. It gets issues out on the table so that they can avoid problems later.
Where are the most interesting wedding locales? Lakes, hotels, wineries and ski slopes. The nicest are the beaches at sunset. I’ve been flown to Disney World. It’s hard to be serious when Mickey Mouse is in your face.
What makes you uncomfortable? A wedding is a holy moment. Guests are snapping photos. You try to explain this is a time when people are uniting their lives and being guided together. It’s not always a time for photos. I’ve had the bride and groom extend the kiss a little too long and that makes people very uncomfortable. Dancing down the aisle, however, is great.
Is there something you include in every wedding? I know rabbis who do cartwheels down the aisle after the pronouncing. I’m not like that. I’m warm, companionate and serious. Two weeks before a couple marry, I ask them to write a love letter to each other, which they open the morning of the wedding. I’ve asked them to send me a copy in advance. I always check to make sure they’ve read it, and I usually incorporate something from their letters into the sermon. Sometimes it’s funny; sometimes it’s serious. It’s an excellent exercise in communication for them and it gives me a bit of insight into their personalities. Couples enjoy doing it, and they like it when I use their own words during the ceremony.
Do you stay in touch with the couples you marry? Each year I mail or email 200 or 300 anniversary cards.
What marital advice do you offer? I encourage the couple to remember why you fell in love. What brought you two together, not what’s tearing you apart. It’s a life choice that you’re making. You need to forgive, have a sense of humor and to show love for the other person. The wedding is a half-hour in a person’s life, but it’s the marriage that’s important. The ceremony is going to be beautiful, but building your lives together is more important.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve experienced? I performed a wedding at the foot of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix and a rattlesnake slid down the aisle. Another time a bee kept circling my nose and on the ‘Amen’ I slammed the rabbi’s manual book together — with the bee in the middle of it.
Do you remember the first time you officiated? I was 27. It was the summer of 1973. I was in Texas and had only been at the congregation for two weeks. The bride was exceedingly pregnant. They wanted the child to be the product of a married couple. Back then that was still very important. Right after exchanging of the rings her water broke under the huppah. I’d prepared a nice sermon, which we skipped, and finished the ceremony quickly. He stepped on the glass. Then I went right to, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now go to the hospital.”
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Men and Women Share the Sweetest Thing Their Partner Has Ever Said to Them
Relationships
Oct 15It may feel like romance can get lost in the shuffle of everyday life, but these couples remind us that love is often expressed most in the little moments.
Timeless romance
Erica and Josh Hartwig are surrounded by love daily through their photography business Organic Moments Weddings, but that also means they essentially spend 24 hours a day together running a company and raising their five kids. Still, Erica says Josh is truly an old romantic. She recalls one tender moment when the seven of them were on a secluded beach. “We were laying snuggled on the sand, 60 degrees out, blankets on, our kids playing, and no one else there,” she says. “Josh said, ‘When I die this is what will flash before my eyes. This is the best part of life.’ I fell in love all over again.” These romantic quotes from books will make your heart melt.
Supportive spirit
Despite a successful law career, Elena Ledeoux says she frequently doubts herself, especially when, recently, she was launching a new startup company. “One day when I was fretting that it wasn’t going to work, my husband gave me a big hug, looked me in the eyes, and said, ‘You can do it. You’ve always done it,’” she recalls. “His complete, unwavering belief in me was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. And it helped me get through the initial period before my company took off.” Don’t miss the surprising secrets of the most happily married couples.
Doting dad
It means a lot to Randy Krauss, who has been married for eight years, when his wife tells him how much she appreciates the type of father he is to our sons. “I didn’t grow up with a father figure and it means a lot when she lets me know that I’m doing a good job by our kids,” said Krauss.
