I am very much in agreement with the Bible's advice within the context of marriage that there needs to be a leaving of family of origin and cleaving to the spouse to start the family of procreation. This is underscored by the stats which place in laws very high on the scale of those factors that contribute most to the breaking up of marriages.

Yet could it be that there is a leaving and cleaving that is wrong and dangerous? I wonder out loud because I was pained to learn recently that one of my cousins has totally estranged himself from his brothers, parents and the rest of the wider family since he got married. It would seem that he married a lady who was very enmeshed in her family and she has somehow drawn him into that family. It was very painful for one of his brothers to deal with, the one who made it possible for him to be in the USA in the first place.

There has to be a point where one decides to draw the line and create a balance between the new family and their original family.

I just wonder...