Our Lady of Vilnius: Nurturing the"face-to-face ties that build social trust"

As "Nobody's Wife" I took special interest in today's New York Times Op-Ed piece by Stephanie Coontz. Too Close for Comfort, captioned "We are placing too many burdens on the fragile institution of marriage, making social life poorer in the process."

Ms. Coontz goes on to say, "As Americans lose the wider face-to-face ties that build social trust, they become more dependent on romantic relationships for intimacy and deep communication, and more vulnerable to isolation if a relationship breaks down. In some cases we even cause the breakdown by loading the relationship with too many expectations. Marriage is generally based on more equality and deeper friendship than in the past, but even so, it is hard for it to compensate for the way that work has devoured time once spent cultivating friendships.