To Live as Family: An Experienence of Love and Bonding

The Cornerstone of Human Life The third book of a trilogy on marriage and the family, To Live As Family offers comprehensive suggestions on how to establish and strengthen the family bond, as well as sound practical advice on how to make the family the rewarding, nurturing environment it can and should be. Over the past three decades, societal institutions took over many of the family's functions and put them in the hands of "experts" who, predictably, made the job of raising a family look too complex and too overwhelming for a mere parent. But Joseph and Lois Bird, who have raised nine children of their own, believe that it is parents who are the experts, and that it is time for them to reclaim their primary responsibility in shaping the family unit. They advise, however, that spouses must first accept each other's gift of love before they can "aspire to a mature, far broader love which is the cornerstone of any successful family." They discuss such topics as family bonds, pregnancy and family "additions," teaching and learning, sexuality, loyalties, work/business, and self-esteem. Written with the same clarity, verve, and expertise as the authors' previous successful books, To Live As Family makes an important statement regarding the preservation of this vital "cornerstone of human life."