Success at anything requires work, something which very few people would dare to argue against and something which I am in the process of doing a little more of these days! At the same time, work at maintaining successful relationships in our lives is equally important. On this point, Yoko and I are textbook successful.
We cherish this photo as one of our greatest treasures. Although we have been married for nearly fourteen years, Yoko and I have managed to keep a significant amount of extra spice in our relationship by maintaining a small number of very special little rituals. One of those things is to make a point to say something nice to each other at least every day, and getting into that habit has allowed us to easily do that as many as three or four times a day. Another habit is to bring each other a little gift every time we are apart, usually some kind of a food item that we would want to buy anyway so as not to waste money on silly presents. Regular hugs and kisses do wonders.
Perhaps the most important thing we ever did was have a second wedding, not a stressful one like what was needed to make the family happy, but a very private, romantic dream get-away just for the two of us! It cost a bit, but I promise you it’s a worthwhile investment!
As a last comment, choosing where you hang your hats together is important, but I’m sure that Yoko and I could be happy most anywhere. Having said that, Japan is wonderful for us and we suspect the same is true for all of you married couples in our Smith’ s School system.
Martin Werner Zander, Smith’s Partner
マーティン・ワーナー・ザンダー
Owner, Smith’s School in Kotoen
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