If this problem is left unresolved for years and years (until the children leave, for example), husbands and wives may find themselves sitting across the breakfast table from a total stranger once everyone else has left home. By then, it's awfully hard to repair the relationship.

But there are plenty of people who don't find themselves in that dire situation, and they probably have secrets for everyone else. Readers, if you're in that fortunate position, please tell us how you kept the spark alive — or how you reignited the flame after it had gone out.

Any kind of advice will do. It could be something you learned from your mother before you got married, or something you observed that worked with a friend in the ward. It could be something you came upon through trial and error.

If you have something to say, please respond. And if you don't want to do it for all the people whose teenagers will soon be gone and who will be facing an eternity of silent breakfasts across their Cheerios, do it for all the June brides who are just starting out and who desperately need to borrow your wisdom.

Send your email to meridianmagazine@aol.com. Put something in your subject line to let me know your letter isn't spam. We'll publish the first responses next Monday, just in time for mothers to clip out and present to their June brides.

And when you write, be sure to include your full name, city and state or country. (If you'd rather be semi-anonymous, sign your name as “A Reader from Michigan ,” or “Sandy from Timbuktu .” The important thing is that we hear from you.)

Until next time — Kathy

An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.

Booth Tarkington