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WWME Publicity in The Catholic Review

Jennifer Williams

Writing Tenderizes Marriage Encounter Couples’ Hearts

By Jennifer Williams, Staff correspondent
Reprint permission granted by
The Catholic Review, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Gil Apodaca hates to write.

Yet every day for the past 26 years, the Fontana, Calif., resident has written a love letter to his wife Rose.

Dave and Lucy Snyder of Tampa, Fla., have been writing each other for 28 years and Ann and John Geer of Arlington, Va., have been writing letters for more than eight years.

As couples who have participated in a Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) Weekend, they have learned the importance of communicating their thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. The couples, who recently joined together for the national WWME convention at Towson University July 8- 10, say they spend about 10 minutes each day writing and then take an additional 10 minutes to talk about the letters.

“Couples tend to do it when they’re dating,” said Mr. Snyder, who would write letters to his wife on the bus while serving in the U. S. Army. “Then in the first year of marriage it becomes less common. Then kids come along and it’s ‘just the facts ma’am.’”

But couples say that writing letters works.

“I don’t like to write, but I make the effort,” said Mr. Apodaca. He said the letters are about everything going on in the couple’s life, from romance to faith to the hurts they experience.

The Apodacas, who have four children and are now retired, said they try to dialogue right after dinner. The couple, who have been married nearly 37 years, say WWME got them to slow down and look at what’s really important. They even included their children in their dialoguing.

Don and Wink Flanders of Cottage City, Md., who have been married 36 years, participated in their first WWME weekend 10 years ago. “They teach you to communicate in such a way that it’s almost like you’re dating again and getting to know each other,” said Mrs. Flanders.

“It really keeps you in touch on a daily basis.” Mr. Geer said that “dialoguing tenderizes the heart.” “It’s not a cure- all, but it’s something that reminds you of the relationship you have with a special person,” Mr. Geer said.

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