[Library Lady]

Sometimes my husband and I can travel an hour at a time and never say anything. Other times we talk like magpies. It just means we are comfortable in each other’s presence anyway.

[rhett october]

Right. That’s what I have started thinking. But it seems like something had programmed my wife to think that if there were “silence gaps,” that it was a sign we didn’t love each other or something. She recognizes that it’s not true now, but there still seems to be this pressure to talk when it’s silent to “show” or demonstrate we have some deep connection.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Exactly. One of the best signs of a strong relationship is that the husband and wife don’t need to be chattering to each other all the time. They can enjoy periods of just being with each other without talking.

[nikos1121]

If you have the radio on, that usually stifles conversation. OTOH, if you’re wife is anti Trump activist, I wouldn’t talk to her either.

[ronniesgal]

us, too. 40 plus years!

[Georgia Girl 2]

Same here. Mr. GG2 and I do talk to each other a lot but that’s because we are like minded and share common goals and interests. But sometimes we just sit in the same room in companionable silence and look at our tablets.

[goodnesswins]

I have to institute quiet time when we do car travel...otherwise my husband talks and talks and talks....course I’m pretty quiet for a female.

[iontheball]

I find as the years of marriage pile up and two individuals grow closer and closer together that verbal communication loses much of its importance. It is as if two people learn to communicate symbiotically, using much more subtle forms to convey their thoughts and feelings. No relationship, however, remains smooth all the time and it is not hard to feel the tension when the normal balance is disrupted by some disagreement. Fortunately, these situations do not last long because both partners abhor the unease brought on by the conflict and will then communicate in every way known to man to return as quickly as possible to the harmonious centricity they together have found so comforting.

[Polyxene]

“Sometimes my husband and I can travel an hour at a time and never say anything. Other times we talk like magpies. It just means we are comfortable in each other’s presence anyway.”

My husband and I were the same way. He passed away a few years ago, and I would give anything to take another car trip with him — talking or not talking.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Exactly!
One of the funniest things that ever happened to us..
I am very hearing impaired, one time when we were riding
on Mr Bs 1947 Harley, he decides he’s gonna tell me something while cruising a 70mph!
LOL
What he said: “Whatever you do while wearing those clip on sunglasses. DON’T LOOK UP!”

What I thought I heard:”YADA YADA YADA, LOOK UP!”

So I did..

[Georgia Girl 2]

So true. Mr. GG2 and I talk to each other all the time but we can sit in the same room for an hour doing other things in companionable silence.