In Hollywood, many marriages don’t last longer than the typical news cycle.
Actor Jeff Bridges is one Hollywood icon who has managed to make his love last for the past 40 years, and he says his relationship just keeps getting better. From the moment he spotted his future wife, Susan Geston, waiting tables at a small-town diner in Montana, he knew she was “the one.”
Jeff explained that he was initially nervous about making a commitment back in 1975, but when faced with the reality of losing her, he realized he had to bite the bullet. Doing so was the best decision he ever made. The couple have now defied all odds and maintained a loving marriage for more than four decades years. They have raised three daughters and have a grandchild, and their love is stronger than ever! In interviews, Jeff often shares his thoughts about what makes their marriage work:
“I fell in love with my wife [snaps fingers] like this. It was love at first sight. I knew she was the one. And that scared the hell out of me.”
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“We were together for about three years, and I couldn’t make a decision. So Sue … said, ‘I understand your situation, but I’m going back to Montana. My biological clock is going off and I want to start a family.’ And I thought, I can’t let this go…’ I had this image in my mind of a handful of sand and there’s one diamond in there, and that’s Sue, and I can’t let that thing go.”
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“I knew I was madly in love with my life the minute I saw her, but getting to the altar was so tough. I kind of figured out a philosophy, I told my wife, ‘I figured it out; the fear of marriage is really a fear of death because it’s the end of the story. Marriage is a giant step in that direction. Here is the woman, there’s no more pretty girls, this is the only pretty girl right here. All those doors are closed.'”
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“What you don’t know until you get married is that door that you stepped through is lined with all these brilliant doors; it’s filled with kids, deeper intimacies, adventures, and everything else.”
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“Finally I got with the program and realized how wonderful marriage is. What a great opportunity … You open a doorway to the marriage hall, and it’s a hall filled with all these doors on either side, with kids, and all kinds of emotions that you’d never experience if you weren’t married: you know, joy and fear, and all that stuff. You’re going to feel all those things in a marriage, but the context of it; saying we’re going to do this together.”
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“We’re going to learn and experience all kinds of joyful things and sorrowful things, but we’re going to do it together.”
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“My wife and I have our prime battle; it always goes back to the same thing: ‘You don’t get it. You don’t know what it’s like being me in a relationship with you. You just don’t get it.’ And that’s so true! Neither one of us gets it; that’s what we have in common.”
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“If you change your partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then you don’t get the richness that’s available in a long-term relationship.â€
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“Intimacy is what we’re all looking for – the kind of intimacy developed when someone is by your side through thick and thin. It’s kind of a big high.â€
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“My marriage just gets better and better every year.”
I think we can all learn a thing or two from this relationship. Happy anniversary, Jeff and Susan!
Be sure to share this story to encourage love, patience, and understanding for all of your married (or soon-to-be married!) friends.
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