As the years goes by in marriage, showing unconditional love to your partner becomes very important and necessary.In some marriages the love decreases as the years go by but this should not be the case with you.
This advice was given to me inadvertently by my grandfather, Bob Lynes, a Montana wheat farmer, before he passed away at age 87.
When my grandfather was in his mid-fifties, my grandmother became critically ill and was hospitalized for several months, which really shook my grandfather.
When her health returned and she came home, my grandfather said, “When I was a young guy, I might have been able to live without a wife. But these days, no way.”
As a rule, my grandfather was not known for saying much. But that line communicated volumes about his deeply abiding — and ever increasing — love for my grandmother. The story has been repeated within the family for years afterward.
What it tells me is that even though the love in some marriages disintegrates as the years go by, fortunately this isn’t always the case. Love can also increase and deepen as the years go by (and research backs up this observation). Spouses can become more appreciated, more necessary.
I was 29 when I was married, and back then I felt fairly self-sufficient in terms of my ability to function in the world as a single person. Sure, I appreciated and loved my wife when I married her. Yet today, at age 46, I find myself increasingly happy and content to be married and stay married — and even more so as I look to the future.
This isn’t to say I’ve become less independent or capable as time has gone on. It’s that I’ve come to greatly value the perspective and support my wife brings to the table. I’m far less apt to want to be single anymore. I’ve come to sincerely value marriage from the inside out.
Show her — and tell her — that she’s valued, particularly as the years go by.
If you’re a husband — or if you plan to be one someday, what will you do to communicate love to your wife? You yourself will benefit in the end.
I think of the advice laid down in a blanket principle communicated by Johnny Cash when describing his relationship with June Carter Cash.
Although both Johnny and June made mistakes along the way, and even though their marriage to each other wasn’t the first for either of them, they learned and grew from their mistakes. In the end, they enjoyed a deeply strong 35-year-marriage together.
June died in May 2003. Johnny was holding her hand when she passed. A few months later, Johnny himself died. People said he missed June so much he couldn’t bear the thought of being apart.
Earlier, when asked what made their marriage strong, Johnny offered this advice:
“There’s unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot, but it’s real with me and her [June]. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She’s always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark and everybody’s gone home and the lights are turned off, it’s just me and her.”
Unconditional love: perhaps the best thing any husband can give to his wife, any wife can give to her husband.
What’s the best piece of marriage advice you’ve received?
Source:artofmanliness