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FROM FRIENDS TO PARTNERS For a year, the couple said they were simply part of the same circle and would see each other when hanging out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were just friends,\u201d Susie said. \u201cI thought he was nice, but it wasn\u2019t until later that I realized how much I liked him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That realization came one summer when Susie said she stayed in Baton Rouge for classes. Lonely one evening, she was surprised when Mike showed up at her apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe said, \u2018Come on, let\u2019s go hang out,\u2019\u201d she remembered. \u201cIt was the first time I thought, he\u2019s not just friendly \u2014 he\u2019s really kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By fall, their friendship had shifted, with Mike and Susie beginning to realize that there was more to this friendship between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They dated for three years before marrying. Nearly four decades later, they still describe their relationship as rooted in friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOther people could see it evolving before we did,\u201d Mike said. \u201cWe were always together, and eventually it was obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD \u201cWe both had some positive role models in the sense that my parents were married for 60-plus years, and so were her parents,\u201d Mike explained. \u201cWe have to see from the very early ages how you do marriage. My dad worked a week offshore and was home a week. So, the weeks he was gone, my mom raised three boys. She was a part-time single mom. I watched them be able to do it as a team, even though there was this separation. I think our role models were good, and that helped us tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They also credit their appreciation for each other in helping to weather the storms of life. Mike said that Susie\u2019s unconditional positive regard, or the complete acceptance and support of a person regardless of their actions or feelings, is what he appreciates most about her and how she gets through things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe exemplifies unconditional positive regard,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a counseling thing she studied, but it\u2019s not a counseling thing for her. It\u2019s just who she\u2019s always been; it\u2019s just a natural gift. She\u2019s had to follow me through multiple careers. I always stayed longer than I needed to, and it was time to leave when I did. It was all those things, and she was just always there. It may have been a hard strain for her, but it didn\u2019t come across that way to me. I think that the unconditional positive regard with our kids and me is a way of saying that she didn\u2019t learn that from school; she embodied that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susie added that their strong values and backgrounds helped to build a strong foundation in their marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe value the same things,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019ve been fortunate enough to evolve together, like theologically, politically, all the way that if one of us had stayed in one place and the other had moved on, it would have been difficult. I\u2019ve never felt like one of us drug the other person. We both were willing, open-minded, and we evolved. We\u2019re not at the same place we were back then when we met, and that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE SECRET OF IT ALL \u201cAsk yourself, \u2018What does love require of me right now?\u2019\u201d Mike said. \u201cLove is fluid. It looks different at different times. Sometimes it means putting the other person first. Sometimes it means giving space. Sometimes it\u2019s just running into Publix together on the way home. But it\u2019s always love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susie\u2019s advice is to simply be good to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTreat your spouse the way you want to be treated. Don\u2019t try to change them \u2014 work on yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, they both agree that love isn\u2019t rocket science. It\u2019s asking every day what is required of each person involved and honoring what the other needs in the way of love. Love is forever active for the Youngs. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IN AN energetic coffee shop on a milder-than-usual Monday night in November, Mike and Susie Young reminisce about their first years together. Nearing 40 years of marriage, the exact details of how they got together might be a little fuzzy. You see, over the last 39 years, there have been a few changes in address, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>Both natives of Louisiana, they both attended Louisiana State University (LSU). Upon arriving on campus as a freshman, Susie said she wasn\u2019t looking for romance. She was eager to carve out her own path when she was introduced to Mike. Susie was hesitant at first, but at a welcome party at the Baptist Student Union, introductions were made, and she found Mike to be friendly. But for either, it wasn\u2019t love at first sight. It wasn\u2019t even an attraction. It was something quieter, steadier: friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Story-1-photo1-3-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/strong>For Mike and Susie, love has never been a fixed point. It has shifted and reshaped over the years. Several factors have helped shape the successful marriage between the two. Both grew up in families where marriage was modeled as commitment and teamwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/3-3-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/strong>When asked what their secret to a long-lasting marriage is, both have their own take on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n