Getting married and finding our forever partner is something many of us look forward to ever since we are children. The love shared and the celebration of finding that person is one the most special moments of our lives. But when it comes to maintaining a loving marriage it takes a lot of effort and patience. Both partners doing equal work to keep the balance and sharing simple things with one another. But they only way to find out these lessons is to experience and go through them. Even celebrities and the richest man on Earth have had to learn these lessons!
Bill wasn’t spontaneous enough when he first met his wife!
Bill met his wife Melinda when they were at an Expo trade-fair in New York. Only two weeks after they met he asked to take her out. But Melinda wasn’t that easy to take out and responded,
“That’s not spontaneous enough for me. Ask me out closer to the dates.”
So Bill waited a little bit then later that day he called her and asked her on a date that evening. He made sure to ask,
“Is this spontaneous enough for you?”
After that the rest was history.
Sharing their secrets and their answers are more simple than you would think.
In 1994 they got married and have three children together, Jennifer, Phoebe, and Rory. With 20 plus years of marriage under their belts, they often get asked questions about what it takes to maintain a healthy marriage. Luckily for all of us, they share their secrets and the answer is more simple than you would first thing. They say the main key to a long and happy marriage is simply doing things together and sharing the balance of chores.
Even the world’s richest man does the dishes!
Chores even as simple as doing the dishes together every night.
Melinda finally puts the kitchen on a lockdown.
Melinda took the time to share the beginning of this habit with USA Today stating,
“One night I realized I was still in the kitchen a good 10 – 15 minutes after everybody else doing the last minute things. Sometimes in the moment my frustration or anger just comes out. So one night we stood up after dinner and people in the family started to melt away, like, they go upstairs. So hand on my hips I’m like, ‘Nobdy leaves the ktichen until I leave the ktichen!”
Maintaining happiness one dirty plate at a time.
Since then Bill and Melinda have done the dishes together every night and the marriage is happier for it! She continues to state just how strong her beliefs are for equality in life and marriage is. Which she is an advocate for due to her belief that in her own marriage many believe that their relationship must be unequal.
Little moments make the big ones so much sweeter.
To that question, Melinda continues to USA today stating,
“‘Oh well, Melinda must not really have equality with Bill.’ Actually, I have total equality with Bill. But it took a while for us to get there.”
Melinda continues to speak on how it is little things that we may overlook at first such as doing the dishes together is where marriage finds its true basis and helps keep the couple together.
They even work together as too.
The two actually work together as well to work on health development and energy. As well as, they run Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which aims to acknowledge “equal value in all lives and work to reduce inequity.”
In her book The Moment of Lift, Melinda writes
“Some of that’s work you want to do. It’s tender; it’s lovely. But some of it is also the mundane of doing laundry and the dishes and packing lunch boxes.”
As humans sometimes we make situations deeper and bigger than what is actually happening in reality. Especially when you combine your life with someone for the rest of your days it can be a little tricky to maintain. But just as Melinda and Bill share that sometimes it’s doing the mundane work together that holds the key to happiness and longevity in a relationship.
We thank Melinda and Bill for kindly sharing their secrets to a happy marriage!
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