My parents' marriage was very rocky. They were always arguing. When they split up when I was in my 20s my brother and I were both delighted because we knew they weren't good for each other.

My parents had a great marriage. Interestingly it made it harder for me in relationships because I knew what a good relationship looked like.

My parents separated when I was four. It wasn't the smoothest of divorces but then as my mother always says you can't have a passionate marriage without a passionate divorce.

In 1977 we played America and Europe three times and Japan - my marriage suffered as a result. My then wife took the kids to Canada to be near her parents.

My parents did not have a perfect marriage. It was pretty good but it was not perfect. My marriage is not perfect. My wife is but I happen to be imperfect. However that does not discount the fact that the definition of marriage must be defended and protected.

My kids have moved more in their twenties you know than my parents have moved in nearly 40-something years of marriage before they died. So there's a part of me that laments what we have lost and that is a sense of community.

The sad truth is that the civil rights movement cannot be reborn until we identify the causes of black suffering some of them self-inflicted. Why can't black leaders organize rallies around responsible sexuality birth within marriage parents reading to their children and students staying in school and doing homework?

I think like any marriage especially when you've had divorced parents like myself you want to try even harder to make it work.

Is there a doctor in the house? My parents want me to marry you.

From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings.