Quote:
Originally Posted by ArtleyWilkins
I grew up around many long-term marriages. My parents were married almost 65 years before my mother passed away. My sister and her husband, 35 years before she passed away. My husband and I are in our 33rd year of marriage. I could name many, many more.
Is marriage "always" 100% happy and perfect and easy? Heck no. A long-term marriage will see births and deaths, illnesses and financial struggles. That's life. Strong marriages last because of a commitment to work together through whatever obstacles occur. Strong marriages last because, despite everything that can go wrong, at its root, there is a respect and love and commitment to that relationship that transcends those struggles.
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Thanks a lot for this response. When I think about my past relationships, none of the guys were bad people, I was never abused aside from once being forced to do life changing things I wasn't ready for, and the guys were all very in love and did not want to break up. But none of these relationships lasted over 2 years because I would find that months in there were "red flags", like slight betrayal of trust, feeling like the other person was no longer willing to put in effort etc. Even if I tried to wait it out for things to change, I would get a nagging feeling telling me something was off. Do you think, say, 7 months into a relationship is normal time for the nature of a relationship to change? I've found myself questioning whether I just have commitment issues or have been choosing the wrong partners. Also, what kind of qualities in a male partner would you say are most vital for maintaining and enjoying a long term relationship?
(I hope this is okay for me to ask. I feel I can learn a lot from someone who seems long term relationships as a norm.)