CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/236583
FeaTUre Two Hearts,OneLove I Four couples share their simple secrets to forever By anna leSTer n this day and age where the spoken words, subject of marriage and plenty of advice has been given on "I do," turn quickly into "I'm through," many in our society find themselves either wondering what went wrong in their marriage or they are so exasperated by the whole experience that they really don't care. Is it even possible that people don't care about the issues leading to the dissolution of their marriage or is this just their way to sweep years of anger, hurt and misunderstanding under the carpet of their once united home? Countless books and articles have been written on the Clay and Marsha Bullard of Fayetteville have been married for 38 years and are as much in love today as they were when they met in 1972. Marsha says that Clay always makes her feel "extra special" by telling her how beautiful she is all the time… even if she looks "a mess." He also gives her a letter about every ten years recapping their life experiences for that period of time that has passed. Marsha's advice for couples today is to always treat and love your spouse better than you would treat and love yourself. Clay's advice is to have a relationship that is dependable. He says he depends on Marsha for a lot of things and she gives him everything he needs, in other words he stated, "she fulfills me." He said that love certainly has its place in the relationship along with mutual respect and deep friendship. They both shared that keeping God in their relationship is key especially since their vows were made before Him. 46 | January/February • 2014 all the dos and don'ts of this, the most intimate of relationships. But really, what good is any of it if the individuals involved are unwilling to accept the possible fact that if there are problems in the relationship it could lie with them! It's hard for us to accept that we can be wrong about anything; especially about the way we think things ought to be in our marriage. Our relationships may only begin to improve once we begin to focus on the one in which we have committed our life and not ourselves.