Gwinnett Daily Post

Michael and Doris Cassone

Michael and Doris Cassone

The Lawrenceville residents have been married 73 years and have three children.

Michael:

Cooperation. She raised all the children and I went to work and worked my head off to bring home the bacon, and I gave her everything she wanted.

Doris:

You can't give up. There's things that happen in life that you don't like or that goes the other way and isn't what you want. Don't give up. Keep on going. Tomorrow is always another day and another day to do better things. Stay together. Don't run away.

Sydney Benefield, 4

from Lawrenceville

"Hugs and kisses"

Dwayne and Joy Faircloth

The couple manage the Laurel Grove retirement community in Lawrenceville. They have been married 40 years

Joy:

I think that we love people and then I think we're in love with people. I think being in love with your mate, finding your soul mate, respect for each other, best friends, just unconditional love.

Dwayne:

Learning to give 100 percent and not to expect anything back.

Caden Jackson, 5

from Winder

"That you love your husband and that you like flowers"

Norman and Dina Leikach

The Lawrenceville

residents have been married 56 years. Norman iemigrated to America from Poland and Dina is from Israel.

Dina:

Trust each other. Forgive and trust and take care of each other.

Norman:

I trust her and she trusts me, and we've had a nice marriage for 56 years.

Ken and Vanessa Reed

Ken is pastor of Mosaic Christian Fellowship in Suwanee, where both he and Vanessa serve in ministry. The Lawrenceville residents have been married 18 years and have five children.

Vanessa:

For me, what it takes is we're both in ministry and I think anchoring our relationship in our faith and God has really been the sustainer. We kept the courtship. We try to stay true to our Friday night date nights and so I think that's been, if I can say anything other than anchoring in our faith, is to keep your relationship where you found it.

Ken:

Foundationally, we understand that we grow more interdependent on each other as the years go by. We still fuss, I don't think we argue, what people would call argue, but we'll disagree on stuff and that's where we say, 'OK, how do we resolve that conflict?,' so we've come up with different ways to do that within our relationship that keep anything from escalating.

Amador and

Yesenia Gutierrez

Owners of Pura Enchilada in Lawrenceville, the couple has been married a year.

Amador:

Commitment, that's pretty much the key. Respect and communication. You have to have the same goals. You have to look for the same things. If you don't, it's like going two different ways. We talk about our dreams together and it's the same.

Yesenia:

I think the first thing is love.

Ken and Patty Lindahl

The Snellville residents grew up living next door to one another in Michigan and have been married 37 years. Both teach theater at Brookwood High School. They have three children.

Ken:

I would say patience, certainly. Especially true of us as teachers working in theater, one might be ready to go home and the other might have something to do before heading out the door. I think our faith has played a large part of (it), too.

Patty:

A lot of understanding and trust. Never letting the big arguments turn into something bigger. We usually end up laughing at the end of an argument. We know it's insignificant in the whole scheme of things.

Lilly Chavis, 5

from Winder

"It means Mom and Dad"

Mike and Jani Lee

The owners of Jack Brown's Cafe in Lawrenceville will

celebrate 21 years of marriage in June. The couple has two children.

Mike:

I think it's friendship.

Jani:

Definitely. That's how we started.

Mike: We're best friends and we started out as friends and it grew from there. I think the next thing is what underlies friendship. It's commitment and loyalty. We've always been true to each other and straightforward with each other and it's what best friends do. When the bumps come in the road, you don't give up.