"Monkey see, monkey do." We need examples to learn, yet when it comes to GREAT Relationships most people have reported to me that they actually don't know what GR's look like in real life examples. So this project is designed for just that purpose.
The GREAT Relationship (GR) Masters are:
1. Couples who have not only made it long-term, but have made it well show us a certain level of mastery; and/or
2. Couples who demonstrate key GR principles.
In the play Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, a Russian Jew steeped in tradition, is struggling with accepting his daughter’s modern notion of romance and marrying the one you love. He and his wife, Golde, had a traditional arranged marriage where practicality, not love, was not the primary consideration. Tevye, though, begins to wonder if, after all these years, his wife loves him…?
Read MoreThey say that sometimes love starts with a spark
And that might be true
But if I were to wish you a love
I wouldn’t wish fire for you
Remember the song Cars by Gary Numan? He was the cutting edge of new wave in the late 70s/early 80s. Still one of my fav artists. Did you also know that he just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary yesterday? He wrote the most lovely post about his wife and their marriage. I liked it so much I added it to my GREAT Relationship Masters blog. Give it a read…
Read MoreJust re-watched one of my fav GREAT Relationship couples in the movie The Glenn Miller Story (starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson). If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. It's the true story of the innovative and most popular musician of the late 30s/early 40s (big band/swing). Several of his most popular songs were love songs to his wife and sweetheart Helen, with a very meaningful story behind each song: String of Pearls, Pennsylvania 6500, and Little Brown Jug.
Read MoreStephen Colbert and Evelyn "Evie" McGee-Colbert have been married since 1993. This is what he had to say when John Oliver asked him, “What friendship have you had which has impacted you the most?” His answer is sincere and poignant. When one values their partner this much, you can imagine the pains he gladly takes to treat her well and protect their relationship.
Read MoreMark Hamill is just cool all-around. We all know this... What few know, though, is that Mark Hamill has been married to the same woman, Marilou, for thirty-seven years. And relationships that make it, and make it well, over the long-haul are really cool! And are especially rare in Hollywood. Read the full story here...
Read MoreWhile this short film is fictional, the type of love is not. I have known so many of these simple GREAT Relationship Masters who quietly and unassumingly love and serve their partners.
Read MoreIn this cute ad a young couple talks to an older couple about marriage.
Read MoreAs one Facebook friend said about this video, "So cute! Nothing sexier than a faithful companion :)". True. I couldn't agree more. And that's what these GREAT Relationship Masters in the fun and touching video understand.
Read MoreThis video depicts a married couple with debilitating disabilities—the husband with Parkinson's Disease and the wife suffering from a stroke.
Read MoreA college dorm mate of mine, Aldo Edwards, shared the following lovely moment where he witnessed two GREAT Relationship Masters in action:
"I saw an ancient fellow, bent over with age, shuffle slowly, S-L-O-W-L-Y around his table
Read MoreI've had so many young people talk to me who are afraid of marriage... because how could love really last a lifetime, especially when so many have seen so few great examples of marriage, if they've even seen any at all? As in anything great in life we must study the masters. Stop studying the marriage idiots, folks. Study those who know what they are doing. Here's one example of what love really looks like over the long haul.
Read MoreYou need to see this video as this this young husband wakes up groggily from anesthesia after yet another surgery to find to his great surprise that he's married to "the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. Are you a model?" He's further surprised and overjoyed to learn that she is his wife!
Read MoreIn his book Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery, Richard Selzer recounts this incredible exchange between a lover and his beloved: I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth has been severed. She will be thus from now on.
Read More96-year-old Fred Stobaugh writes a song about his wife, Lorraine—the woman he's spent 75 years with and has just passed away. He then enters it in an online song-writing contest. See what happened...
Read MoreNot too shabby this... Kristian Anderson made this birthday video for his wife Rachel before he died of cancer. It went viral as did their story. I'll let the vids tell their story better than I can...
Read MoreA wonderful fictional portrayal of the real life experiences of many GREAT Relationship Masters. Bravo!
Read MoreOne rainy October evening, thirty years ago, I sat in my room at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, staring at a navigation lesson and thinking of Jean. I had met her the previous August in Chicago, just before my summer leave expired, and I had fallen in love with her. Three days later I was back in Annapolis, surrounded by rules and regulations, while she was a thousand miles away, surrounded by eligible bachelors. Things looked bleak indeed.
Read MoreThe segments of married couples telling the stories of how they met are real stories that Rob Reiner collected for the film. Actors relate the stories.
Read MoreCreating GREATness in Relationships™ through 1. Marriage Mastery, 2. Parent Training, and 3. Self-Mastery.
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