Katie and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary last weekend and have been together for over 22 years. She’s awesome.
Our wedding day was a memorable one, especially for our Denver sports family, as the Colorado Avalanche won game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final about 300 yards away from the reception.
Earlier this week, a coworker asked if I had any insights or secrets to a long marriage. Well, since I mix pods, I rattled a few of the first things that came to mind.
So after having some more time to think about it, I thought I would share 18 lessons that I think have played a role in our marriage.
Disclaimer: I didn’t collaborate with Katie before posting this, so she’ll either be pleasantly surprised by my spontaneity, or I may have to append a lesson #19, check with your wife before posting 18 lessons from your marriage on the internet!
18 lessons that I learned from 18 years of marriage
- Have things you do together, have things you do on your own
- There are different stages of life you’ll go through together, embrace it
- Don’t go to bed mad (this is one of Katie’s rules)
- Embrace the in-laws (I married a whole family (and extended family))
- Never take her perfect last bite (also known as the Katie bite)
- Things work out better when you set expectations
- Show gratitude
- Balancing roles of mom, spouse, friend, career, daughter isn’t easy
- Don’t always say the first thing that pops in your mind 🙂
- Have mutual friends, have your own friends
- Celebrate wins
- Deliberately grow together
- Buy an ear and nose hair trimmer
- Go all in to support whatever it is she is passionate about
- Work hard at staying engaged and being a good dad
- Have a sense of humor and be able to laugh at yourself
- Share your goals and dreams with each other
- Go for long walks
But the key insight that I want you to take away from this blog is not the 18 things that I listed above, but to think about your own 1,2, 18, or 50 things that you learned from the relationship with your partner.
