Marriage role models

My parents. They will be married for 50 years in JAN. My FH's dad passed away a couple of years ago, but they served as great role models as well. They were married for about 60 years.

The only couple I can think of is my aunt & uncle. They've been married 35 years, have two wonderful grown kids, and still actually seem like they love each other.

Frankly, we take the "What Not To Do" from both our parents quite a bit......

I've actually learned the most about what NOT to do from the people around me.

Let's just say that a majority of people that I've spent close contact with for a very long time were in need of some counseling.

I'm with Janeen. My parents have been married 42 years and have a total love/hate relationship and learned what NOT to do watching them (how to fight, how to communicate, etc).

My parents, they were high school sweethearts and have been married 39 years with many more to come!

My cousin & his wife. They are so strong and they would do anything for each other. He still jokes that when they go to parties he catches himself checking her out and is like "yea I married her" They are just such good people and amazing parents.

But like Janeen & Denise, DH and I have a lot of things we talked about before we got married because we saw things in his parents & my parents relationship we did not want to carry over into ours.

My parents have been married for 36 years. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how my mom has put up with my dad for that long (lol), he can be a difficult man to live with. So they are definitely my role models of "through good times and bad".

My parents just celebrated 53 years on Sept. 1 and are still very affectionate, loving, and happy. FH parents divorced a long time ago. His mom has been remarried for 30 years, his dad... well he's had some challenges with marriage but he's been married to his current wife (#5) for 20 years. (Yeah, some of the other marriages didn't last very long.)

I have said my parents before but in all honesty, its not. My parents have been together for almost 40yrs, but my mother has put up with some shit that I would never put up with. I did learn patience and how to take care of a man and a home though so I am thankful for that.

I have taken the "What not to do" from both sets of my parents. My inspiration is my FIL's they will be married 38 years on our wedding day (which is also theirs lol). They have been through so much and married when they were just 18 & 19. It is amazing to see people still try and work toward the same goal together.

I had a couple whose daughters I babysat through high school. They were my next door neighbors. They were in their young 30's, financially well off for their age, and looked as if they had the greatest marriage. I really really looked up to them for a lot of things...and then she left him for someone else after he started traveling a lot for work. It DEVASTATED me more than my own parents divorce for some reason.

Aside from them during the time they were married, DH's parents would be our role models. Married for 26 or 27 years, and SO happy together. They are the cutest little beach bum couple who just live the simplest life together. I would love to be them in 25 years.

My parents for sure. When they met they were 51 (my dad) and 31 (my mother). Everyone thought they were nuts. My father had to have his previous marriage annulled in the church (he was already long divorced) and the process took a long time, but it was important to them. My father had already raised four kids on his own, but had no reservations when my mother said she wanted children. They faced a lot of hardships over the years. They were both diagnosed with complicated health problems, as was my brother. My father died 2.5 years ago, which was very hard on my mother.

You know what though? I never once worried about my parent's marriage. I had the best childhood ever, and I grew up just hoping I would be lucky enough to find a man like my father. Difficult times can tear a family apart or they can demonstrate how much love there really is.

My grandparents. They got married at 16 and 18 on their 3rd date and have been married for 48 years as of June. You can tell they're still very much in love and they compliment each other really well. You can really see it in the little things that they do for each other. She still gets up early to make his coffee every morning and he still brings her home flowers every Friday. Even when he was in the hospital for a heart attack a few years ago he had flowers brought up for her from the gift shop. It's really shown us that we always need to take the time to show each other that we care, even if it's just by doing something small.

My aunt and uncle. I was a flower girl in their wedding 29 years ago and I have always looked up to them. I think they are amazing and supportive parents to their two children, and a fantastic team. They still say the sweetest things to each other, but also leave room for individual hobbies and personality. I will always look to them for advice.

On the other hand, I definitely have a lot of examples of what not to do as well!

The obamas.

Like other people here, my parents and their nasty separation and subsequent divorce taught me what NOT to do. FH's parents are my inspiration for what to do. They were high school sweethearts and are close to celebrating 40 years together.

My mother and father. They were married 29 years before my mother passed away from cancer 19 years ago. Then my father and stepmother. They've been married for 15.5 years now. They started off in a rough situation when my stepmother had multiple heart attacks two weeks before they were supposed to get married and she was in ICU in a coma for a month and a half. They've had their medical ups and downs since then, but they're solid no matter what. And they love each other like crazy.

Love hearing these stories! I'm such a big sap. Some of these relationship/marriage stories are very admirable. Sorry to those who learned what NOT to do from their parents or others around them--but glad to see that there are still some others in your life that inspire you!

@KB, I'm sorry to hear about your father--The way you speak of him is how I feel about my father. I'm glad that he showed you how love should be though!

LOL @ Celia - fist bump.

@MPHGirl thanks so much. It's always hard to lose a parent, but they had 27.5 amazing years together and never faltered once. We will actually be getting married the day after their 30th anniversary. I'm going to have the priest say a prayer for my dad at the rehearsal.

Tammy and Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights.

Kidding but not really.

My parents showed me HOW NOT to be in a healthy relationship. They fight, yell, scream, stonewall. My dad cheated. My mom showed me how not to stand up for oneself. They stayed together for "the kids," though we often wondered why they didn't divorce. It's sad, really. They are still married and still miserable.