What do you think actually does make a marriage?

NannyJan I can see that it has affected all my children - he was a public figure so there was some spectacular fall out too. All a long time ago now, but conscious that GS will grow up with an intetesting family history..

Imperfect27 Sounds the basis for a TV Drama

What fascinates me is the "can't live with you; can't live without you” relationship that my SiL found herself in. When DH and I married, she and her husband had already been married for a few years. Later in life they divorced, only to marry each other again some years later and then divorce a second time! Neither of them married again, but they chose to live near each other and carried on what was, if not a caring, a platonic if rather prickly relationship until he died recently. 'Very much at arms length but there if you need me'. It seemed to work for them, but seemed odd to most people. They were both very strong characters.

I can relate to that; my OH and I have been on/off for decades and it looks like we'll end up the same way (though hopefully not prickly..)

NannyJan

It was probably a lot more common than many people realise.

Riding the storms!

For us it has been humour, music and loyalty.

It is all a bit askew at the moment, as, due to PD, OH sometimes bears very little relation to the man I married, and I have to dig pretty deep to find him. It does send the relationship off kilter, but what I do know is that, whatever might have happened to me if it had been my illness, he would have looked after me with fierce loyalty. So that is what I am trying to do - not altogether successfully, but I can only do my best.

One thing that keeps us going is the presence of family - lovely stalwart girls and their children who are walking beside us both - so in a sense children can be part of a good marriage as they bring shared enjoyment and a sense of achievement.