{How I Know My Marriage Will Last}

Both before and after I got married, I would run into two kinds of people. There would be the people who were super excited for me, talked about how awesome marriage is, and seemed happy with their own marriage/relationship. The other people...I did not like talking to as much. They would reply with "Psh, good luck with that" or talk about how 50% of marriages end in divorce and how "I may seem all in love not, but that will go away." And if you are in a relationship or marriage and telling ME that my love will go away, maybe you should start evaluating your own relationship first before you start criticizing mine.

I love Michael.

Plain and simple, I love him. When we got married, I swore to the ends of the earth, to God, and to Michael that I would love him forever. And that's exactly what I plan on doing for the rest of my life. I plan on trying to take care of him. I plan on hugging him tight every day. I plan on being goofy and trying to make him laugh. I plan on surprising him with things he loves. I plan on loving him. And if he didn't plan on doing the same, I wouldn't have married him. 

You know who's love I love? My parents. They have a good love. They will dance in the kitchen together, laugh together, go on dates every week, compliment and make fun of each other, and hug and kiss every single day. They love each other and they are happy together. They have been married for 24 years and that love "hasn't gone away" because they chose to stay true to those commitments they made to each other and work through any trials that came their way.

If both people in the relationship try to do as much as they can for the other and not be selfish, I don't see how the marriage could fail. I honestly don't. I married the most unselfish person I have ever met in my entire life. I couldn't have asked for a more faithful and helpful husband. So, because of him, I am trying so hard every day to not be selfish. I let him go out with friends when he wants, I let him buy what he wants, I try to cook and clean so he doesn't have to, I work so he doesn't have to worry about supporting both of us, and I try to make him as happy as I can. But I don't feel like it will ever amount to what he does for me. He makes me happier than I have ever been in my entire life. So next time you think about how your relationship may be failing, go a day just doing things for the other person and not asking anything in return. I promise you that THAT is the key to a successful relationship-not asking what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. 

After all, a line in our first dance song at our wedding was "I want to make you feel wanted".

Love-it's a good feeling, so make it last.