Marriage means saying "forever," but how do you make forever work? Better yet, how do you make every day of forever the happiest possible?
I'm no relationship expert, but these 12 old married couples reveal how they've managed to keep their relationships alive through the years.
As it turns out, it's all about the little things. What seems like the smallest gesture to one person, can mean the entire world to somebody else.
The spice never has to go away, just check out this 80-year-old husband and wife dancing together like there is no tomorrow!
For these couples, figuring out what that small things is and doing it, made all the difference in how their partner's felt about them.
After all, it's not all about you, it takes two to tango. Remembering that being married means there are two people with a unique set of needs can be the difference between staying together or breaking up.
If you've struggled to find ways to keep things fresh in your relationship or you just want some new ideas to keep things interesting, these nuggets of wisdom will certainly do the trick.
See the tips below and SHARE if you thought this was great advice!
1. Wake Up At The Same Time
"My SO gets up around 5:30 every morning. Instead of staying in bed, I wake up make coffee for him before he hops in the shower (I'll get everything ready the night before even the cups with sugar and creamer and just hit the brew button when I jump out of bed) and I have breakfast waiting when he's out of the shower. Seems like a small thing but it gives us 5 extra hours together a week and it's some of the best moments of my day. I'll go back to bed for about an hour or a half depending on what's going on when he leaves. Sure I'm missing out a little bit on sleeping but doin this has really helped my relationship immensely."
2. Make Cooking Dinner A Romantic Ritual
"We cook dinner together every night. She usually makes a salad and/or the vegetables. I do the meat. It's 30-45 minutes a night we do something together and it's every night."
3. Let The Cuddles Begin
"There's nothing better than when we're sleeping and she'll just turn over and grab my waist to pull herself closer to me and then nuzzle into my back like a cat, all while she's still half asleep. My back gets really tense a lot and this feels amazing. It's actually to the point that I have to use a pillow on my back when she's working nights."
4. Be The Jerk Every Once And A While
"Stop saying sorry. Say thank you instead. When you say, 'sorry for being a jerk,' the other person is forced to either call you a jerk or say it wasnt a big deal. Instead, say "thank you for being so being so patient with me" so the other person has a reason to say they love you."
5. Learn How To Accept An Apology
"I go to a counselor and I once asked them how to deal with accepting apologies, because I don't want to say something is 'okay' or 'not a big deal' when it upset me. She suggested that instead of saying it's okay, you can say something like, 'thank you for that, it really helps to hear that.' Something that shows them it means something to you."
6. Always Leave A Note
"My SO is an avid reader, and I'll sneak notes into random parts of his books. The other day he asked me to grab some change from his wallet, and I discovered that he keeps them all with him."
7. The Devil Is In The Details
"Whenever he mentions something that he likes or wants, small or large, I write it down in a list on my phone. I get him these things from time to time – most recent was 'mini Cadbury eggs' because he said it was his favorite Easter candy. I want him to know that I'm always thinking about him. I'm not so much a words person, but more of an actions person."
8. It Never Hurts To Just Listen
"He needs to talk things out to make decisions. I don't — I'm the quiet one in the relationship. But, I listen and ask questions when I can, and it helps him. He knows I get bored (he's a self-employed handyman, and he sometimes talks me through his improvement projects in DETAIL to make sure he's prepared for the job). But, I listen because it helps him and it's a small sacrifice to help him feel confident that he'll be doing his job efficiently."
9. Let Them Be Upset
"Something he has done for me, is let me be upset. Sounds silly, but he gives me validation even if I'm being irrational. Then when I calm down we can talk things out. No one ever did that before him. It has been huge for me, because growing up I was always treated like being upset was wrong or that I wasn't being fair to the other party involved. I don't want to be right all the time, I just want to be allowed to be p*ssed off!"
10. Make An Ordinary Ritual An Extraordinary Gesture
"The smallest thing I do is get her tooth brush ready every night and every morning and leave it next to the sink for her. She loves it. I got the idea from my dad whose been doing it for my mom for 38 years."
11. Make The Bed Every Day
"I've never really cared about whether the bed was made because you just sleep in it right? My wife told me early in our relationship how much she liked to get into a made bed at night and that she thinks it makes the room look neater etc. but I didn't take much notice and just kind of kept leaving it messy. One day I made it on a whim and when she came home from work it meant way more to her than I had realized. She had had a bad day and just that little gesture really made her happy.
I started making the bed every day and it’s such a small thing but she’s told me a few times how much it means to her because she knows that I’m doing it because it makes her happy, not because I care about whether the bed is actually made.”
12. Discuss Your Highs And Lows Everyday
"We have 'igloo time.' For five minutes a day we huddle under a blanket, pretend we’re in an igloo, and discuss our high and low for that day. I don’t know why we make like it’s an igloo. There was probably a reason for it when we first started the practice and we’ve both forgotten about it by now."
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