Point 1 and point 2 should be standard issue for all marriages. My wife and I have 51 year in and counting. One of the things things that hold us together is unconditional acceptance of the other just as they are. But the most important is the nightly cuddles. We never go to sleep without cuddling up and sharing a few romantic (not sexually passionate) kisses, during which we remind ourselves of our great love for each other. Sometimes we simply recount the beginning of our relationship, sometimes recall fond memories of things we've done as a couple or with our two kids, sometimes we simply proclaim out loud that the other is more precious than our own breath.

During that time, I'm constantly in awe of the fact that after all this time we are so deeply in love... that she, to spite all the grief I caused early in our relationship due to my selfishness, is still with me and proclaiming her love. On our fiftieth anniversary, I, not so jokingly, said I had enjoyed the fifty years I'd been married to her and that I was looking forward to the next fifty. OK, it's a long shot. I'd have to live to be 122 and she'd have to live to be 120 years old... but people live longer every day... it could happen.