The Little Book of
the Sixteen Cs
for a Happy Marriage
Simple Daily Habits That Help Love Last
By Michael J. Lyons
Michael & Lorie Lyons
— FIFTY-TWO YEARS. SIXTEEN LESSONS.
My wife Lorie and I got married on April 20, 1974.
That is fifty-two years of choosing each other — through seasons of joy and grief, success and setback, ordinary Tuesdays and extraordinary milestones. The length of our marriage places us in the “7% Club” – that’s the percentage of married couples in America who make it to their 50-year wedding anniversary.
I did not write this book as an expert. I wrote it as a student. And Lorie has been my greatest teacher.
Over those fifty-two years, I began to notice that the strongest marriages are not built on grand romantic gestures. They are built on repeated habits. Small choices. Daily practices. Many of those habits can be described with one memorable letter: C.
This book distills those habits into sixteen principles — one for each C — drawn from a lifetime of paying attention to what helps love grow, and what slowly causes it to weaken.
It is a short book. It is meant to be.
You can read it in an afternoon. You can return to it for years.
The architecture of a lasting marriage.
Sixteen principles. Each beginning with C. Each drawn from fifty-two years of living them.
“Real love is not a performance.
Real love is a practice.”
— CHAPTER 16: CONSISTENCY
Michael and Lorie Lyons on their wedding day, 1974, and 52 years later . . . and counting
— THE MARRIAGE BEHIND THE BOOK
Courtship began May 22, 1973.
Married April 20, 1974.
Three children. Seven grandchildren.
Fifty-two years of choosing each other on ordinary days.
This book is not a theory. It is a record.
“Every page of this book carries something of you in it. Every C begins with what I have watched you live.”
— from the Dedication to his wife Lorie
A MEANINGFUL GIFT FOR
THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE.
For newlyweds. For longtime couples. For anniversaries.
For anyone who wants to strengthen the
relationship that matters most.
Available in hardcover, paperback and Ebook.
For bulk orders, media inquiries, or endorsement requests: info@the16cs.com