UNIT 1: FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS
My name‿ is Sofia. I have been married for six years,│ an(d) the assumption‿ I had│ before the wedding was that love‿ alone was‿ enough. It‿ is not,│ and‿ I would say the same to anybody│ who is planning‿ a wedding‿ at this moment.
In my country,│ arranged marriages‿ are still common‿ in some families,│ an(d) the criticism‿ of them‿ is usually based‿ on‿ a false premise:│ that they lack‿ affection. My cousin's marriage was‿ arranged,│ an(d) the mutual respec(t) between her‿ an(d) her husband‿ is more visible than‿ in many love matches‿ I know,│ including my own. What matters,│ in her case,│ is that both families were‿ honest‿ about the expectations from the beginning,│ whereas mine were not.
The real strain‿ in‿ a marriage,│ I think,│ comes from the small things that‿ are never negotiated:│ househol(d) duties,│ money,│ and‿ in-laws. My husband‿ and‿ I argued for‿ a year‿ about│ whose parents we would visit‿ at Christmas,│ an(d) the argumen(t) was never really about Christmas. It was‿ about│ whose family mattered more. If‿ a couple cannot compromise‿ on the trivial matters,│ they will never manage the serious‿ ones. Love‿ is the starting point,│ not the solution.