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GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com | 39 things like everybody sits at the table and have dinner together. I like family time and I'd make everybody watch "America's Funniest Home Videos" or whatever. I would set certain boundaries with how we would interact with each other. Steve and I try to challenge them to be the best person they can be and understand their individual, unique personalities. Steve takes us on a family vacation every year and we all pack together in one house and do bonding time. He Said For our family vacation we took 14 people to Hawaii last year, rented a house on Hanalei Bay. This year we're taking 15 or 16 people to Beaver Creek, Colorado. What is the biggest mistake that couples make? He Said They get divorced. When you love somebody, you're always going to have problems and you work through them. It's so easy now to get divorced. The repercussions from divorce are so awful and you don't realize it until you've gone through it. Julie and I have already been married before so we know what it's like. Julie and I have made a commitment to work through everything. We generally don't stay mad at each other for more than 24 hours. She Said Steve and I might bicker. We seem to get along better the more quality time we spend together we get along better. If we become distant from each other we lose track of understanding each other. Sometimes we are bickering about something or disagreeing about something in the car on the way to work and I'm blah-blah- blah or this and that, or you did this and whatever. By the end of the day, we almost forgot that we were arguing. Is there one piece of advice that you would give other couples? He Said Be loving and kind. A lot of people just lose sight of that. If you remember the reasons why you're with your wife or your husband and then instead of your normal, sometimes irritating answer, you answer with love and be kind to them. Sometimes I bring her a cup of tea. She Said I'm going to write that on the wall. If he irritates me, I'm going to write it and say you said, "be loving and kind." (laughs) He brings me coffee every morning and sometimes if I'm in a bad mood he asks if I would you like a hot tea. I try and do the same for him. What is your perfect day? He Said Probably having the whole family over. Almost every Sunday, we try to have all of our family together. We have two grandkids, two and three years old, that we don't see enough and we'd love to see more, but when we have the whole family together I think that's the perfect day. She Said That is just the absolute best time because again, we all get along unbelievably well. We are so blessed. Our lives are so untraditional, there's so much going on. To be able to have normalcy, vacuum the floor, have the grandkids over, and cook food for my family - that's a perfect day. Is there a special gift you give on your anniversary? He Said She loves jewelry. (laughs) She Said I do! (laughs) Improve Your Game Sarasota's Tennis Pro Coach Kip Semi Private and Private Lessons Beginning to Advanced Levels, Kid's (4 -17 Yrs) Women's & Men's (941) 565-3983 Call or Text Seasonal & Holiday Packages Free Tennis Lesson!

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