My Parents Are My Relationship Goals

#RelationshipGoals is a trending hashtag you’ll see on various platforms of social media. If you go on Twitter, you’ll see millions talking about themselves or celebrities they idolize. And when you go onto Instagram, you’ll see today’s most popular celebrity couples from Erik and Jessie James Decker to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. But what is it exactly that makes these couples relationship goals? Is it because they’re attractive people? Or is it the fact they’re normal people that do everyday things like talking about food and roast each other on social media? Think about it. Why do we classify one specific couple as relationship goals? Why don’t we look at the couples around us formed by our close friends and family? For me personally, the only couple that I’d classify as relationship goals is my own parents. Let me tell you why.

1. They’re not perfect

From a young age, I was told that there’s no such thing as the perfect marriage. In fact, if it looks perfect from the outside it probably is a mess on the inside. Take John Smith’s parents. Throughout his entire life, he never once saw his parents disagree. Only to find that his dad was having an affair for practically his whole life. So thanks, mom and dad, for teaching me that disagreements and arguments only make a couple stronger. They taught us that even when problems were fixed that didn’t mean that happily ever after was a guarantee. It meant that during happily ever after there would be bumps in the road that together as a couple they would use their teamwork to overcome.

2. They allow their vows to come to life

They’ve proven that until death do us part is a real-life promise. They’ve been together through sickness and in health and they’ve lived out their vows throughout the range of their entire marriage. They never once forgot to remind each other how much they loved one another and always made sure we saw how much they cared for the other.

3. They were the perfect examples

The statistics show that majority of girls will marry men like their fathers, and a high percentage of boys will marry girls like their mothers. For my brother and I, we’d be more than blessed to find such. Our parents taught us so much of what a healthy relationship should be like. My mom taught my brother that equality is everything and caregiving is a responsibility that a spouse has for the other. My father taught me that every girl deserves to be a real-life princess and should always be shown love and affection. If my brother and I marry a spouse that holds similar characteristics as our parents, we are in great shape for a strong and healthy marriage.

4. They kept their love alive

They never once stopped dating each other. By having the perfect balance of doing fun date night activities together, and always having fun family events to go to, they always had something fun to look forward to doing with one another. They showed us that just because you’ve been married a while it doesn’t mean you have to stop the fun. It just means your adventures only increase with each other and you continue to grow in the memories you make with one another.

5. They never went to bed angry

At the end of the day, they proved that they were best friends before husband and wife. And even though they fought, and boy did they have their differences, they remembered why they loved one another and were able to put that behind them. They were able to go to sleep happily, reminded of the love they share.

So yes, there are many flaws that my parents contained as a couple. Throughout their ups and downs, they proved that they were each other’s rock. They proved that they would tackle any obstacle as a team and they’d be each other’s number one fan in the process. Sure they might not live as lavish of a lifestyle as Blake and Ryan do. Or have as much fame and popularity as Eric and Jessie. But for me, they’re the only couple I would ever strive to mimic and have a relationship similar to. They’re the best influences I could have asked for, and I only hope I can have a marriage as beautiful and strong as theirs.