Marriage

Y'all look like da poifect couple! Mr. Gal has a great smile.
Mrs. Fury

Dat's real nice uh ya ta say!
I don't know about "perfect", but we still have a lot of fun, even after almost 20 years of marriage and 32 years of knowing each other - I think it's just dumb luck!
LakeviewGal

Coincidence!

That's the answer we give when people ask what the secret is to the happy 28 years Engineer and I have been married! It's a real leap of faith.... And we're so glad we made it. Engineer says if he could do it again, he certainly would--except for the being nervous part.
Towanda!

It's some luck but it's also about havin'na good sense ta pick da right life pawtnuh--somebody who'll be good ta ya, who ya know will always be dere, who likes ya as much as dey love ya. And visa voisa. Me and Bellboy been knowin each othuh faw thoity-fooah yeahs and we bin married fah 24 ov'em. Ah'm not gon'na say dat it's awl bin a bed a roses, but it's bin real good. Ah feel like we was lucky ta fond each othuh but mostly we was smawt enough to know dat (as Robert on "Raymond" says) "it was meant to be".
Mr. Lake

It's downright inspirin' to hear of good, long-lasting relationships in this day and age. Congratulations on your 28 years!

I think there is an element of luck involved in "finding the right person", but of course, as Mr. Lake said, there's more to it than that. IMO, part of it is having respect for the other person's individuality, giving each other space, allowing the other to be him/herself - and not trying to change each other! (I mean, too many folks wanna overhaul their mate - why'd they marry him/her in the first place?)
LakeviewGal

We were discussing this recently with three other couples at dinner. One guy who had been married 32 years said that for them, the secret was allowing the other person freedom to grow as they needed to. None of us is that same person we were even ten years ago, but the bedrock remains. I feel that it's important to remember that relationships are not reform schools. What we get is a package deal: roses, warts and all. And the sooner we accept the whole deal, the happier we are. Which doesn't mean we don't keep working to improve the relationship through enhanced communication skills, etc.

And did y'all notice how much of what pleases or annoys us about our mates is situational? It drives me nuts when Engineer casually leaves stuff all over the house. But if he weren't so laid-back, he'd have no patience when the projects I'm working on claim the whole den, or I leave needlework stuff around because I'm planning to get right back to it. If he were a neatnik, he'd go nutsier trying to live with me.
Towanda!

Da real secret is compromise.
We've been married fa 35 yeahs as of las'Dec.
MidCityMan

I remembuh when we wuh first married, we spent an entire morning picking out wallpaper for the upstairs bathroom. Like it mattered. We did a "I'll give up this if you give up that" routine. But we ended up with something we both liked. Now, Engineer just says, "No cabbage roses" and lets it go at that. He knows he can trust my impeccable taste!
Towanda!