The double wedding ring quilt I finished a few years back is on the bed of a couple who have been married for sixty six years. Three thousand, four hundred and thirty two weeks. Twenty four thousand, ninety days.

 

She told me that the key to their longevity has been acceptance of what God provided. They were content with what life brought. Their eyes were on the long term, not instant gratification. 

 

"The advice I would give to newlyweds (which no one has asked for) is to believe that your partner is doing the best they can. Pick up the slack and keep going. Sometime later they will do it for you." 

 

This is from the daughter of a man who cared for his paralyzed and uncommunicative wife for fifteen years. 

 

"There hasn't been a single day that I woke up and wished we weren't married. And I think he would say the same thing. Yes there are problems, and times of good fortune. But that's the fluff. It has nothing to do with commitment." 

 

"I'm certain that I'm going to heaven, because I KNOW he is. And God wouldn't give me my husband on Earth and then take him away. So if I get there on his coattails so be it. Being a plus one works for me."

 

He has been gone for four years, which isn't easy. 

 

A friend expressed her incredulity that they have been married so long.