My dad established some great traditions within our family. One of them was to go to Home Run Pizza on the near west side of Chicago to celebrate major educational milestones such as graduations. Me and my brothers just recently reignited the tradition when I graduated from DePaul recently. However, one tradition that he hadn’t established was having a great marriage built on faithfulness. 
As I look back on my family history, I like so other men don’t have a lot of great marriages to point back as a point of reference for my own. I have examples of long lasting marriages but not great marriages. Growing up I really didn’t believe men were faithful to a single woman in a marriage. This is something I just didn’t see. Every example of marriage I’ve seen prior to getting married, the husband had some long time side relationship(s). To make matters worse I found that for long term marriages there was a wink wink understanding between the husband and wife. The wife accepted the situation just as long as some unwritten rules were followed.
Remember that my mom was raising us with Christian values and this life style within my community didn’t really jive with what I read in my Bible. It actually wasn’t until I got married and became a Christian myself that I saw examples and hopes of great marriages the way they were meant to be experienced. I now have plenty of examples of men that stay faithful to their wives and help me do the same. I’m not saying that it’s perfect and every marriage within the Church lasts forever. I’m saying that I actually found a group of men that are fighting to establish new traditions within our community. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen and hopeful that my sons and daughter can look to my marriage to their mother and be encouraged and hopefully establish a tradition of long healthy marriages of their own.
Growing up in Chicago 