This November I have been married for 30 years. That is more than half of my life. I still like to date my wife; I have never stopped dating her. I know that sounds weird for a lot of people, but it is a fact, not an idea, a fact. Yesterday I wanted to take her out on another date, but I was confused as I made plans for the date. I let her know, I would plan it all, I would work out the details, and it was my treat for her.

At the time, I started looking for local concerts, but there was only one show I considered; then, I looked at the movies. I thought, well, there is only one new movie opening this weekend, but I could take her to Zombieland. I checked out a variety of options and didn't really know what I was going to do, outside of taking her to one of the nicest steak houses in Wichita, Chester's. It is an expensive steak house, but thankfully I know the joy of having friends who bless me every now and then. A friend had given us a substantial gift certificate a while back and while we had used it once, we had plenty left to eat there again. Needless to say, the date started out very nicely.

I decided after we finished eating to take her to the movie. We arrived at one of the largest, nicest theaters in the country just a few blocks away, The 13th Street Warren. Upon getting to the ticket window at 6:30 I noticed Zombieland didn't start until 7:15 but another movie, a new release, Couples Retreat started at 7:00; I decided to go ahead and take a chance and see a movie I wasn't that excited about. I am glad I did, because this movie turned date night into more than that, it turned it into a wonderful evening with my wife, and what will be a wonderful evening with any couple thinking about marriage, or any couple who is already married.

Couples Retreat is a new film with a terrific ensemble cast. The movie focuses on four married couples who on a whim decide to take a couples retreat to try and help with the marriage problems of one of the four couples. The plan is to go to this wonderful vacation spot, and while one couple works on their relationship, the other three couples will enjoy themselves and have fun. Upon their arrival at the vacation resort, known as Eden, the couples quickly learn there is a difference between Eden East and Eden West. The resort is actually broken up into various sections attempting to accomplish various purposes. In order for the couples to remain at Eden, they all have to engage in a sort of marriage counseling. While this only lasts a couple of hours each day, with early morning sessions, the couples find themselves engaging in and reacting to the efforts of the camp counselors and especially the teachings of Marcel, played by brilliant character actor Jean Reno. Through the time at the vacation resort, each couple learns the importance of not only developing loving relationships, but also maintaining them.

While Couples Retreat is a bit quirky at times, it is a refreshing presentation of the importance of maintaining love in a relationship, and the importance of working to maintain marital relationships. In short, I so appreciated the efforts of this film that I can't help but recommending it to all married couples. It does everything a movie like this should; it has you laughing, thinking... and for those who are married, thinking about applying needed principles to maintain a loving relationship in your own marriage. For those doing things the right way, it also is a refreshing breath of fresh air in that it lets you know that some in society, some in the film making industry, understand the value of a good marital relationship. While there are things that need to be worked on by each character, we see characters we can relate to no matter who you are. In seeing the progression in each character, we see, and in some ways relate to, what we can do to maintain those things in our own lives.

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