32 Ans

Thirty-two years ago, the Gotham Gal and I got married.

We had been together for five years at that time.

We have now been together for thirty-seven years.

A relationship that has lasted almost four decades is a special thing.

There is a comfort, a deep friendship, a mind melding, that develops.

At least three or four times this week, one of us uttered something that the other was thinking but just had not said yet.

We are celebrating the day in Paris, one of our favorite places, and pretty much doing nothing, but of course doing everything. Together.

#life lessons

Comments (Archived):

  1. Mike Zamansky

    Happy anniversary to you both!!!

  2. bogorad

    Amazing. Congratulations!

  3. kidmercury

    congratulations!

  4. Gaël

    Bon anniversaire !

  5. Tom Labus

    Flanerie. No better place to do this. You guys are pros!! Congrats!!

  6. Ari J. Greenberg

    Gotham Gal’s IG says 32/38. Which one is it? 😉

    1. fredwilson

      She is always right

      1. Ari J. Greenberg

        And you just touched on another secret to a long and happy relationship 🙂 My wife and I are at 8/14 now. You two are an inspiration.

  7. sigmaalgebra

    Excellent! Great congrats.Growing up, looking for a wife, and getting and being married, I always assumed that such a relationship and life are what was obviously the main goal. Now, with a LOT of experience, a lot of observing, all the credible information I could find, and a lot of thinking about what seems to be going on, I concluded that this assumption is rarely right, usually seriously wrong. Instead, people generally have other interests they care about too much more and often try to use the other person in the relationship like a “rented mule” (JLM). There are also influences from various social norms that had strong support in the past and often no longer do. There are some strong differences between men and women on just how some such exploitation, manipulation, deception, etc. is applied, but the abuse as in a “rented mule” is in common.Broadly we know that something is terribly, fundamentally wrong because in the more industrialized countries the birth rate is so low that all those populations are going extinct, literally, seriously, rapidly. So, what was different 50, 100, 200, 1000, 10,000, …, years ago? Hmm. Political correctness constrains my best guesses!

  8. pointsnfigures

    happy aniv. did 32 this year ourselves. Met in 83, married in 87.

  9. Thomas Capone

    Perfection.

  10. curtissumpter

    This is the best post you’ve ever wrote.

  11. Jim Borden

    Congratulations!

  12. Lee Blaylock

    One of your best posts ever! Congratulations to you both! Having been married 28 years, 32 is something I aspire to! Enjoy the time with your bride. Ironically, we will be in Paris next week too. We lived in Europe our first two years of marriage and have great memories there.

  13. Mac

    What better place is there to celebrate and fill your day with more WOW.

  14. JamesHRH

    That’s quite a run. Congratulations to you both!

  15. DJL

    My warmest congratulations! You guys are an inspiration for combining love, business and pleasure in a relationship that works.

  16. JanetVP

    We share an anniversary! 10 years for us. We got engaged on the Eiffel Tower, so your post gave me ‘all the feels’. Congratulations!

  17. lisa hickey

    So lovely. This post just made me happy. Thanks for sharing your love…it’s how it expands.

  18. awaldstein

    Nice–congrats to the two of you and have a super day.

  19. Venkat Raman

    Congratulations & Happy anniversary to you both.

  20. Philippe Platon

    Congratulations, you are blessed. Wish you many more!

  21. Cesar Bocanegra

    Fred, congratulations to both of you. You’ll have to let us know your secret to happy marriage in a subsequent post. Enjoy your time in Paris, Mr. Poet. 🙂

  22. Emi Gal

    Congrats, Fred! That’s a special thing indeed.

  23. LLK_ParisforLife

    How very lovely for you both to have found and cherished each other for so many years. I wish you many, many more.

  24. JLM

    .Long marriages are to be admired and applauded. Congratulations.Forty years ago — in December — I was married and spent a month in Paris at the Ritz on my honeymoon. Paris is such a romantic city.Be well.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  25. jason wright

    Well played. Your best investment by far.

  26. Perry Chance

    I’m surprised no one has asked so I guess I will since it’s the most insightful thing you could possibly offer us based on your results, but uh…if you had one piece of advice for all those in a committed relationship, what would that be?

    1. fredwilson

      Always be present in the relationship and make quality time for it

      1. Amar

        Yup – the formulae is extremely well know and public knowledge. 99% of it comes to execution! I am glad it is so. Good things in life are worth waiting for. Great things in life are worth waiting for, sacrificing for and working for!

  27. Joe Marchese

    I met my wife 50 years ago. People often ask how does that work. My fave:“A man and a woman cannot live together without having against each other a kind of everlasting joke. Each has discovered that the other is a fool, but a great fool. This largeness, this grossness and gorgeousness of folly is the thing which we all find about those with whom we are in intimate contact; and it is the one enduring basis of affection, and even of respect.” — G. K. Chesterton

  28. JLM

    .”A good marriage is like a casserole. Only those responsible for it, really know what goes into it.”Oscar WildeJLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. Richard

      Remember you can’t spell casserole without an ass – so if you want a good relationship, only one person can be an ass at the same times

  29. karen_e

    A tidbit from Google: “Paris is often referred to as the City of Light (La Ville Lumière), both because of its leading role during the Age of Enlightenment and more literally because Paris was one of the first large European cities to use gas street lighting on a grand scale on its boulevards and monuments.”

  30. Mario Cantin

    Heart warming to read and congratulations.

  31. Jeremy Shatan

    Congratulations! My wife and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary and have been together about as long as you two – and I firmly co-sign everything you said about your relationship. Here’s to many more!

  32. Francesco Barbera

    Happy Anniversary!

  33. Chad Wittman

    Enjoy! I’m celebrating my wedding anniversary today too!

  34. Kirsten Lambertsen

    Best wishes on a day worth celebrating 🙂

  35. mikenolan99

    August 22nd is Dr. Jules and my 32nd… you got us by a few months! Ditto on all points. Met in ’83… married in ’87.

  36. gmalov

    Most meaningful achievement – the first 32 was just a warm-up…Congrats!

  37. Roelof Reineman

    Congratulations and enjoy Paris!

  38. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    Congratulations and my wishes for you both to see 1000 full-moons ( 81 years of age …a major landmark in this part of the world).May God bless you Both Good Health & Mind.

  39. Donna Brewington White

    Congratulations! And many more…A perfect match is a beautiful thing.

  40. tgodin

    Happy Anniversary!