[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] How about follow 5 couples who have been happily married for 30+ years?[/quote]
How would you know they are happily married but for what they tell you?
My big brother is married for 25 years but he now has a gf on the side whom he sees sometimes. He doesn’t intend to divorce; and what his wife doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her.
People stay married for many reasons:
1/ for the sake of the kids.
2/ because we own a house together
3/ can’t get divorce because of religion.
etc…
Life is not the movies. The idealized romantic love is a 20th century creation. But it doesn’t exist (only rarely).[/quote]
Are you telling me one can’t find 5 couples who have been happily married for 30+ years? I know 4 in my family who have crossed over the 30 year mark and are plenty happy. Happiness doesn’t mean they don’t fight. But yes, they’re happy and I can see them staying married until they die. I feel sorry for your SIL, but that’s a whole different story. I’m sure there are plenty of couples just like your brother and SIL. But I’m sure there are plenty of others who are happily married. That’s the flip side of follow 5 couples in couples therapy. You’re not in therapy unless you think it’s broken and need to be fixed.
Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία), or treatment, is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis.
