DatingThings Women Should Never Do for a Man

A joyful older couple hugging and smiling, reflecting the happiness found in second marriages later in life.

MarriageSecond Marriages Later in Life Often Turn Out Happier

Woman pulling away with a frustrated expression as a man reaches for her, illustrating a lack of respect in a relationship.

DatingHe Doesn’t Respect You — Here’s How to Tell

A giant unsorted pile of clothes shows just how overwhelming a decluttering fail can get.

All Love Notes

Dating

Family

An older man gazes affectionately at a younger woman, hinting at the dynamic of leaving a wife for someone younger.

Marriage

From the Kitchen

welcome to the nest

Real Talk About Love, Marriage and Life After the Kids Leave Home

I'm Linda. When the last of our three kids moved out, Tom and I had to figure out how to be just us again. It turned out to be one of the most surprising seasons of our marriage, the good parts and the hard parts both. This is where I write about all of it, honestly. What keeps a long marriage warm, the small things that quietly pull couples apart, what men and women wish the other understood, and how to date your spouse again when the house finally gets quiet.

Meet Linda Read the Love Notes

love, marriage and everything after

Newest Notes on Love

Honest lessons from over thirty years with Tom, and from the couples who made it to fifty.

All relationship posts

An adult daughter speaks earnestly to her emotional mother, reflecting a heartfelt moment of apology between parent and child.

Family

Apologies Your Adult Children Still Need to Hear from You

Our oldest said something to me at Sunday dinner this winter that I have not been able to shake. We were clearing…

10 min read

Couple embracing in a romantic silhouette above city lights, a scene that looks like a fairy tale but hides harsher truths about love.

Dating

The Harsh Truths About Love That Movies and Fairy Tales Completely Lied to You About

The grandkids were here last weekend, and one of them picked the movie. It was a princess one. There was a castle,…

10 min read

A couple engaged in a heated argument in their kitchen, illustrating relationship conflict over unreasonable demands.

Relationships

If Your Partner Demands These Things from You, I Think It’s Time You Walk Away

Last February a storm kept us inside for most of a week. My husband Tom shoveled the walk twice a day and…

11 min read

A couple lies in bed turned away from each other, the woman's guarded expression hinting at underlying mistrust.

Relationships

If a Woman Cannot Be Trusted, You’ll Know It When You Hear Her Say These 15 Phrases on Repeat

My husband Tom rakes leaves on Saturday mornings. He has done that every fall for more than thirty years. This October I…

11 min read

Marriage

Old-Fashioned Marriage Habits from the ’60s Couples Swear By

The weekend after our youngest left for college, Tom and I finally cleaned out the hall closet. We had been putting it…

13 min read

An older couple holding hands on an evening walk

Relationships

21 Things Couples Married for 50 Years Do Differently

My parents, Tom's grandparents and a few dear couples from church taught me more about marriage than any book ever could. Here…

13 min read

Love that lastswhat long marriages do differently

The empty nestbeing just us again

Understanding himwhat men rarely say out loud

Date night ideassweet plans that cost little

Dating

What men and women notice, what they quietly hope for and the signs that someone is truly interested, from a woman who has watched a lot of love stories unfold.

Marriage

Lessons from a long marriage: the small habits that keep love warm, the warning signs worth noticing and how couples find each other again after the busy years.