Prior to attending our Retrouvaille Weekend our marriage was drowning in deep waters. We both felt hopeless. Trying for 10 years to swim against the heavy currents of a troubled marriage with feelings of anxiousness, disinterest, and rage. We had given up hope of survival. Then out of nowhere a life preserver was thrown our way, also known as Retrouvaille.

Although hesitant, it was our decision to grab on tight to this life preserver hoping that our marriage would soon return to calm waters. We are certainly excited and thankful that we did. After attending our Retrouvaille weekend, our marriage began to float instead of drown. We attended all of the post sessions and found that our marriage was learning how to swim.

At times it was still a bit rough however we were determined and wanted more. We decided to continue our Retrouvaille experience by attending the monthly Core meetings. It was not long before our marriage was able to swim to safety. Our marriage now sits on a shore filled with warmth, happiness, forgiveness, understanding, respect, and love. Through the tools that Retrouvaille has given us, we are able to communicate to each other on a positive level that was not there before.

Our children and extended families have also benefited from Retrouvaille, they saw firsthand the rebuilding of a happy marriage versus a troubled marriage. We urge all couples struggling in a troubled marriage to attend a Retrouvaille weekend, experience how Retrouvaille's tools can bring you back to the peaceful and calm waters in your marriage.

Tony and Rita Riccardo

Brian and I wanted to thank you all for the most memorable weekend of our lives. We appreciate your courage in sharing your experiences with us. We hope that it continues to help you in your healing process as much as it helped us. We still can't believe how such simple questions broke down the barrier between us. We are committed to continuing in our notebooks. Last night we reviewed them from the beginning with each other. We don't know if words could ever describe what happened there. We are so very grateful. Add this photo attachment to your collection of success stories. We see a promising future again. Thank you for keeping our family together.

God Bless all of you,

Brian and Karen Tulik

We made our Retrouvaille weekend in January 2002 in the Gaylord, MI area. We then attended all the post sessions in Clarkston, MI and have continued being active in the program. Our relationship was more of a living-in-the-same-household arrangement than a real marriage for many years. It was not all bad, but times of anger, verbal abuse, and the married-singles lifestyle robbed us of the beauty of a happy marriage. Through Retrouvaille we learned to communicate and share our feelings, and how to manage our times of conflict in a respectful manner. We learned that we were brought together by God’s plan and we are now living out the love that He desires for us. We have decided to stay active in the Retrouvaille program because we are now experiencing for ourselves the difference a marriage of commitment, respect, communication and forgiveness can mean - not only to us as a couple, but to our family as well. Sharing with others by presenting post talks gives us the opportunity to give other couples support, encouragement, love and the chance to bring healing to their hurting marriages. With God as our guide, we are here to serve those who He sends to Retrouvaille. We also continue to attend monthly CORE meetings to grow us in our own marriage commitment. The friends we have made through this community are always there for us with love, to share in all the ups and downs that come our way. We encourage any couples struggling in their marriage to come to Retrouvaille and give your marriage the chance it deserves. May God bless all marriages everywhere and keep His loving arms on our families.

God’s peace

Ross & Sandy