Want a Long, Happy Marriage? The Keys Are Communication And Bathroom Doors

This April my husband and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. There should be a small parade thrown in our honor because, for 28 of those 30 years, we have had to share one bathroom. 

During our first two years of marriage, we lived in a 1,800-square-foot townhouse that had two-and-a-half bathrooms. There were more commodes than butts in the house. It was glorious. Then we moved to Dallas and we went down to 1,000 square feet and one bathroom.

People always want to know how we managed to stay married and not wet our pants with having just one bathroom. It comes down to one word: communication.

Things only got more interesting when we had our daughter. At that point, we had three butts to one commode. The most honest communication we ever had revolved around who needed to use the bathroom more as we were getting close to home.

Naturally, when I saw the two-bedroom, one-bath home featured in this week’s column, I wondered how many honest conversations they had revolving around their bathroom.

This 1,000-square-foot home is located at 43 Dorsey Blvd, Greenville, South Carolina. Now you probably see that this cozy little home needs some work but it would make a great starter home. The owners are asking $200,000.

The living room is a nice size. The floor looks to be in good shape. All you need to do is get rid of the wood paneling and put up some fresh paint and you will have a great living room.

The same applies to the bedrooms. Some fresh paint and put in some additional outlets and the bedrooms will be in tip-top shape.

The kitchen is a really nice size and it seems as though they’ve put in new cabinets and a new backsplash. 

And now for the bathroom.

Now, this is a nice size bathroom. There is one small issue, however.

Yeah. It does not matter how many twinkly lights you put around that bathroom, nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to distract you from the fact that the bathroom opens up to the living room. The bathroom is even raised so it is very much like you are getting a show when Uncle Joe has to go drop a deuce.

Everyone in that living room is going to need their own can of Febreeze.

And for the record, I can tell you that my husband and I would not have lasted 30 years if our lone, workhorse of a bathroom, simply opened up to the living room. Nope. No way. No. There is no way I would spend 30 years looking at that.

Uh-uh. Everyone needs to know their limitations and that is why we will always have a bathroom door.

So there you go, the secret that has kept us together for 30 years is love, communication, and — I cannot believe I have to say this — a bathroom door.

For more photos go here.