ARE THERE ANY COUPLES MARRIED FOR A LONG TIME AND HAPPILY SO? WHY DO YOU NOT HEAR ABOUT THEM? DOES IT EVEN EXIST, LONG AND HAPPY? CAN YOU BE TOGETHER FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND STILL HAVE BUTTERFLIES IN YOUR STOMACH?

For answers on these and many other questions, Paulien went to the only group who can say that they know: those who made this a reality. A hundred couples that had been married for over 40 years told Paulien their stories and their experiences.

Firstly she went to look into the lives of celebrities, but was soon disappointed. It seemed that there were no couples that stayed together for a long time. Since she was wanting to get married, and to have a long and happy marriage, she was interested to know whether this was even a possibility. This is when her focus changed from the celebrities to the experts!

She wrote a book about these couples, she interviewed: Lang en gelukkig. She shared during the State of Europe shortly about her book and her studies. Paulien explains in her book about the ways in which happily married people have learned to be happy. Often this is a choice they made, somewhere during the long years of their marriage. Even in these happy marriages there were times that the marriage was average, or below average. Often not because of big problems, but the real killers of a good marriage are unforgiveness, silence and boredom. To have a long and happy marriage, you need to create the right environment: be kind, be loving, show respect, also at the times you do not feel like it.