Age is no barrier to love. But it is not easy for a couple to live together for 50 years. Nobody knows how many golden couples live in Kyiv, but the territorial center of Pechersk district found 11 living there and congratulated them.
The majority of long-married couples say that not all couples are able to live together for half a century, especially when they experience a lot of problems and tests, like separations and illnesses. The Tkachenko couple, Serhii and Olha, has gone through all this. During their 53-year-long marriage they have had to be separated many times, like when Serhii had to go abroad to earn money, but this was never the cause of any arguments. When they spent their free time together, they simply did not want to exhaust each other with unnecessary bickering and spoil each other’s mood.
“The first thing that every couple should do once a conflict arises is to sit down at the negotiating table,” Olha said. “It is impossible to find a solution that will satisfy both husband and wife without communication and mutual understanding. It is also important to listen to each other and divide family duties between the husband and the wife. Couples often quarrel because somebody wants to have more power. This is not good. It is better to compromise and, as they say, to be smaller and cleverer. This will help avoid unjustified conflicts. If hostility erupts between a husband and a wife, the reason behind it should be found and banished forever.”
Sticking to these rules has clearly helped the Tkachenko couple to live together for over half a century. As Serhii said, he was looking for his better half for a long time: he wanted to have a wife with a clear conscience and firm character. Once he found her, the main goal of his life was not to lose their sincere feelings, respect, and mutual understanding. He must have succeeded because Olha cannot imagine her life without Serhii, who helps her around the house and shops for medicines and food. This may sound unimportant, but it is difficult to build real family happiness without this kind of support.
Stepan and Olha Skrob, who will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in a few months, agree with them. The secret of their marital bliss is that they have always made compromises.
“Since both of us are Leos and have restless characters, we used to argue a lot,” Stepan explained. “But we soon found an approach to each other and became calmer. Although people say that love dies with time, I don’t believe it because I still love my wife for her good nature, tactfulness, and kindness. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed, mutual sympathy and respect will always remain between a husband and a wife; they simply are hiding somewhere in their hearts. The most important thing in a strong and happy couple is to be able to show your feelings.”
The couples who are celebrating their wedding anniversaries today are concerned that young people are incapable of making compromises or reaching an understanding, and they often do not respect each other. Nor do their relationships stand the test of separation. Whereas long- distance love used to strengthen feelings, today it causes misunderstanding and quarrels, the Skrobs said. They advise young couples to build their relations based on trust, mutual respect, understanding, and the ability to admit when they are wrong. Only then will they be happy.
