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What’s the secret to long-lasting love?
If you’re Frank Sinatra (referring to his fourth and longest marriage), it’s separate sleeping quarters, each with its own bathroom. For country singer Martina McBride, who shared her secret with People, it’s about finding someone you like, not just love. And Henry “the Fonz” Winkler once shared this advice with Parade magazine about his four-decade marriage: "Listening is the beginning and the end."
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We found four couples who have their own ideas about why they’ve stayed together for decades. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s what they had to say about why their partnerships have lasted so long.
Boyzell & Andrida Hosey
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Boyzell, 57, is a deputy editor of photography for the Tampa Bay Times and cofounder of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival. Andrida, 64, is a middle school drama teacher. The couple, who live in St. Petersburg, Florida, have been together for 34 years, married for 29, and have a daughter and a son. In late 2020, when the Hoseys lost three relatives in two weeks to COVID-19, the strength of their relationship helped them cope.
Andrida: I love the wonderful little breakfasts you make for me in the morning. Those great omelets — the way you slow-cook them, putting little veggies and seasonings and spices in them. And I appreciate the texts with little hearts.
Boyzell: And you text me back little kisses. On an intimate level in general, you give me fantastic head rubs. When I’m on edge, you put me at ease with your touches.
Andrida: I knew we were going to be together forever the day we got baptized together. It was something about being in the Lord’s house, being reborn again together in the water. And also getting married on the same day as my grandparents did, and they were together 65 years.
Boyzell: I’d never really thought about it that way. When we first met, there was definitely chemistry there. And I knew things were going to get a lot more serious when we went on that riverboat ride. We were on a double date with other people, but we ended up leaving together.
Andrida: And we left our dates on the boat!
Boyzell: You were boisterous and loud and didn’t really know a stranger. I was much more conservative.