What’s the Secret to a Lasting Marriage?

The top fifty of the longest married couples around the world have been together for over 80 years.  Now that’s what you call commitment! Perhaps we could learn from their almost century years of marital experience and wisdom.

The world’s oldest married couple celebrated their 90th wedding anniversary last December in West Yorkshire, UK.  Believed to be the worlds longest standing husband and wife, Mr Karam and Mrs Kartari Chand aged 110 and 103 were married in India in 1925 after having met as teenagers.  Karam said: “It is a blessing to have been married and to have lived this long.  Life and marriage is all about happiness, it is what is most important.”

Sage advice indeed.

Surely any couple who have been married for decades have some relationship gems to share.  The secret it seems is simpler than you would think according to a couple who have been married for 83 years and counting.  Taking the title for one of America’s longest lasting marriages, John and Ann Betar have some advice for making your marriage last a lifetime and that is  “…to be content with what you have.”  “We just get along with each other and we are family focused, its simple really.”

The Connecticut couple were just 21 and 17 when they eloped in 1932.  John is now 104 and Ann is 100.

Although they are from a different era, when it was the norm to marry young, and it was mandatory for couples to stick together, their advice is very much applicable today.

Longevity in life and indeed marriage should be celebrated.  It’s so wonderful to see these couples celebrating and also receiving recognition for their love and commitment to each other.

Every year the Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) opens nominations to search for the longest married couple in the US, Canada, and Australia.  The Longest Married Couple project was created by WWME to highlight the value of marriage and to demonstrate that marriage really can go the distance.

references: huffington post, worldwide marriage encounter, wikipedia, metro, the sun