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

FamilyDecluttering Fails That Prove Getting Rid of Stuff Is Way Harder Than It Looks

Labeled boxes for keep, donate, and trash illustrate sorting through inherited family belongings.

FamilySmart Ways to Handle Inherited Family Stuff Without Guilt

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

MarriageMen Who Choose a Younger Woman Over Their Wives Are Often Not Prepared for These Consequences

A woman over 35 smiles while on a dinner date, discussing dating preferences with her companion.

All Love Notes

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

Dating

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

Family

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

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

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

Marriage

Now That I’m Over 50, Here Are the Things I Wished I’d Known Before Getting Married

Last month I went to a bridal shower for the daughter of a longtime friend. The hostess passed around index cards and…

18 min read

A husband and wife sit side by side on the couch, each absorbed in their phone instead of connecting with one another, reflecting emotional distance in the marriage.

Marriage

Signs Your Husband Is Checked Out of the Marriage Without Saying a Word

The winter after our youngest left for college, the house got quiet. I expected that. What I did not expect was that…

17 min read

A woman at a bar glances back invitingly over her shoulder while a man nearby looks her way, hinting she wants him to approach.

Dating

Signs You Can’t Miss That Means She’s Hoping You’ll Approach Her

Early this summer I asked the women who read this blog a question. What do you do when you want a man…

7 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.

Ladies, Here’s How to Tell If He Secretly Likes You

12 min read

A man lost in thought, gazing out a window as he reminisces about women from his past.

Dating

The Types of Women Men Think About for the Rest of Their Lives, No Matter Who They End Up With

9 min read

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.