Best 60 Year Old Marriage Advice

It was the middle of January, when I heard one of the best pieces of marriage advice. We were staying with our grandparents for a few weeks when I was sitting down at their kitchen table sipping a hot cup of coffee. As I sipped my hazelnut coffee, I was mesmerized by these two. 11 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren and almost 60 years of love; they were laughing and smiling as if they were newlyweds. I gazed across the dining room table, and I couldn’t help but ask my grandfather, what is some form of marriage advice you could give?

The Best Marriage Advice I’ve Ever Recieved

He looked up from his plate of Sausalito cookies and said to me. Conversation. As he began to elaborate, he said: “you always have to keep talking”. He smiled and went back to his cup of coffee.

Conversation – an informal, usually private, talk in which two or more people exchange thoughts, feelings, or ideas, or in which news or information is given or discussed:

I sat on my grandfather’s words and began to really hold this core value to heart. As millennials, we almost always have our phones in our hands and it gets harder and harder to connect with the people that are right in front of us. I am guilty of sometimes scrolling on Instagram without saying a word to my husband. Let me give you my marriage advice; DON’T DO THAT. Lol, I’m talking to myself here.

In order for any relationship to thrive there has to be an open line of communication. I’m talking about having meaningful conversations between our families, whether it’s about how your day was, or even what your next project will be. There is nothing off limits in a intimate relationship, and implementing intentional conversation suggests i’m not afraid to be vulnerable with you. Just remember, to never stop talking. I believe this is a vital aspect of a healthy relationship because it lets the two people involved know that they can be heard. Conversation leads us to be social with one another and to actually engage with one another on a intimate level. I realized it’s similar to our relationship with God. If we don’t have conversations (prayer) with God, our relationship slowly begins to deteriorate. The less we converse, the less we are connecting. Some even would say, a huge hole begins to form in the middle of the two and eventually the two begin to separate. It’s all about connection. It’s all about relationship. In 60 years, those same words and conversations will sustain you til death do you part.

What is the best piece of marriage advice you have received or heard? How are you starting up unique and authentic conversations in your home to keep your family talking?