Wednesday, October 07, 2009

What Dave Can Learn From Jay


posted by Michele Olson

With all the hub-bub going on with David Letterman right now, it’s time to take a refreshing look at a great married relationship: Jay and Mavis Leno. David says all his shenanigans were before his 7 month marriage, but you can imagine what his now wife must feel like with all this is in the news.

Diane Sollee, Director of Smart Marriages (and the writer of an excellent newsletter you should be getting from smartmarriages.com) posted a May interview in the LA Times by Sue Smalley with the couple. I have a soft spot in my heart for Jay Leno as during my first trip to LA about ten years ago I actually ran into him and had a conversation, a picture and realized he is a very very nice person.

I hope you will read the article because it is just filled with nuggets as to what makes a long, successful marriage….the kind of marriage that makes people who encounter it want to smile and emulate.

A few nuggets:

*They acknowledge each other as best friends.

*They both reflect on their parents who had long marriages and truly loved each other.

*Mavis sums up what she needed in a person: Just be there when I need you, but the rest of the time, I take care of myself. They are both really still their “own person” in a very successful relationship. (*Something I think is very key to a great marriage and attribute to my thriving almost 31 year marriage.)

*They both really admire each other.

*They have similar passions about what’s important and good in life.

*They’ve stayed the same people, with a lot of money or without.

*They live in “us”…what they do ..they do for the “us” not just “me”


There’s also an interesting bit of how Jay just knows when a women is born on Sept. 5th!
Whether you are a Jay Leno fan or not, I think you will become a Jay and Mavis fan after you read this article.

What resonates with you?

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