As Couples Split Up Around You, Shore Up Your Own Relationship

According to the American Psychological Association’s 2017 data, between 40 and 50% of U.S. marriages end in divorce. Maybe you’ve noticed friends in your age-group “taking a break” or “separating so we can find out if we truly belong together.” My age-group is the mid-50’s now, but I’ve noted at least 5 couples splitting up in my immediate neighborhood since 2009. These are all families we connected with and hung out with, and all with kids who grew up with my kids. The latest neighbor break-up news came via text to my wife Meg’s cell phone last weekend, and we both decided to literally stop what we were doing and focus on what we think we’re doing RIGHT in order to stay together for the rest of our lives. There’s not enough space in this blog post to list everything that experts say healthy couples should do to stick together, and relationships that feature violence of any kind shouldn’t be encouraged to continue. But if you’ve been married for 20+ years, and you want to plan your “Golden Years” around that person you’re currently married to, what are some of the things you can do to see that it turns out that way? Every couple is different…what will YOU do? I hope Meg will keep burning through sticky-notes 🙂

John Young