Married 43 years until I lost her to cancer. Two kids.
We had "date" nights, weekends where we dropped the kids with grandparents. Got to do extended travels once we were empty-nesters and retired. The intimacy became more limited towards the end, and I accept responsibility for that. She had so many mobility and health issues I feared aggravating her pains and treated her like a fragile porcelain doll. I remember he saying, after her mastectomy and chemotherapy, "the breast may be gone, but it still needs loving" and I probably didn't give it -- or the rest -- as much physical love as I should have.
Marriage is a partnership. It evolves and changes, and the pleasures you get at different points are like apples and oranges: different, without necessarily being better. But in retrospect the first few years are the most memorable imho. It is not just because the personal interaction becomes more familiar and jaded (if you don't mix it up with some spontaneous "date" activities), but because you usually are just starting out, finances are challenging, everything is new and an adventure together. But there is a different sort of joy to look back, see the kids -- and grandkids -- independent and successful, and have self-congratulatory memories as well.
