When I was a young single adult I read a book about geishas. I wondered why a man would pay so much money for one evening. The highly paid geishas in the book were interesting conversationalists and playful in whatever room they were in. I decided to be like that for my husband when I was married.

I learned from you how men think in general. You said do not expect my husband to be my girlfriend and listen to me vent about the same subject over and over. I learned from you to strategically vent when I want him to fix my problem. He likes to fix problems. I also learned from you that I don't have to look like a model for my husband to "enjoy my company" so to speak.

So, between your advice to choose wisely/treat kindly and a few ideas from the world of geishas like keeping abreast of sports news for good conversation, our new empty nest status is fun and interesting for us both.

S.