We have been married fifty two years. Peter is a good listener and I am a fast talker, so we both have our roles.

Peter was busy with the crossword this morning,one of the clues being 'Greek market-place', for which he wrote 'agora'. I mentioned the Agorawas also the venue forpronouncementsregarding the various city states and whereyoung men wereenlistedfor the army.

I'm not normally very talkative first thing, but Isaid the word agarophobia, (fear of open places), comes from the word agora andthe Welsh word 'agor', meaning 'open',must havesome Greek connection.

Laterin the morningI started thinking about our midday meal.Peter likes what I cook but, formost of the last fifty two years, just when I'm putting the food on our plates, he says: 'Not much for me'.

Today, I had a brainwave,fifty two yearslate. I called Peter and asked him how much he was going to eat. I was not going to prepare cabbage and carrots, potatoes and gravy and steak if he did not want much.

His answersurprised me and made me laugh. 'You know I always say "Not much for me" but you always cook the same amountand put it on my plate, because you and I know I will eat it'.

Iwas discussing poetry with someone who is English. I said that one of my favourite Welsh words is 'cydymdeimlad', which conveys not justsympathy, buta feeling of compassion,making a phrase like 'I feel your pain', seem inadequate.

He then mentionedthatthe Greek word'symbiosis', from which the word sympathyderives, isused in biology to denote a mutual dependency, sometimes of lichens or fungi, but always infers a close association.

So, if anyone's interested, I've had a brainwave: this is how a marriage works.