Jeff Bridges Knows Exactly Why His 40-Year Marriage Gets Better Every Year
Hang on to your hats, folks, because here’s a Hollywood love story you don’t hear every day. A prominent Hollywood actor has been married one time, for 40 years, and says his marriage just keeps getting better.
Actor Jeff Bridges, 68, is a Hollywood relationship anomaly. He met his wife, Susan Geston, in 1975, and today has three grown daughters and one grandchild.
He still gazes upon his wife with the same fondness and awe he felt back in 1975, when he spotted her waiting tables in Montana. He mustered up the courage to ask her out, initially got rejected, and then ran into her a few nights later.
The two hit it off after a night of dancing, and it wasn’t long before the waitress packed up her bags to follow Bridges back to California.
The two dated for a time, and while Geston desired to be married and start a family, Bridges was afraid of making the marriage commitment.
In 1977, Geston gave Bridges an ultimatum: if he wasn’t going to marry her, she was going to move on with her life and return to Montana. Bridges knew he would forever regret the choice to let his love walk away.
“I said, ‘Oh God, I can’t let this woman go,'” Jeff told OWN. “I had this vision of an old guy thinking there was this girl from Montana, man, why didn’t I marry her.”
So he proposed, and the couple wed just five days later.
Fast forward 40 years, and Bridges and Geston have learned plenty about communication, sticking out the tough times, and the deep satisfaction found within a long-term marriage.
“What you don’t know until you get married is that you think all the other doors close — which is true,” Bridges explained.
“But this doorway you open [with marriage] is a hallway lined with all these other brilliant doors — kids, deeper intimacy, adventures, and everything else.”
Of course, no relationship is without conflict. But Bridges and his wife have learned how to face conflict in a healthy way, which means communicating frequently, openly, and honestly.
Contrary to most celebrity marriages, Bridges and Geston didn’t run when things got tough.
“If you change your partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then you don’t get the richness that’s available in a long-term relationship,” Bridges expressed.
After 40 years, Bridges feels his marriage just keeps getting better. “What they don’t tell you about marriage is that it just keeps getting better on all levels…” he explained.
“Intimacy is what we’re all looking for,” he explained, the kind of intimacy developed when someone is by your side through thick and thin. “It’s kind of a big high.”
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