'Always kiss goodbye.' 'Invest in a good couch.' Americans share best and worst relationship advice.
What is the best relationship advice you ever got from your parents? A friend? Maybe even a stranger?
Did it work?
What about the worst relationship advice someone ever gave you?
This Valentine's Day, USA TODAY asked people across the nation to share their best and worst responses. From California to Florida, the answers ranged from witty and off-beat to vain and endearing.
Here's what Americans say is some of the greatest relationship advice they have ever received – and some of the not so great tips they got, too:
Stellar relationship advice
Expensive furniture is worth it
Name: Josh Evans, 36
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Advice: “Invest in a good couch... you might have to sleep on it some nights."
Hold onto that spark
Name: John Labig, 48
Hometown: Knoxville, Tennessee
Advice: Labig's fiancé died in 2018 after a battle with cancer. His advice: "Find someone who lights up when they see you. Every. Single. Time. It’s a priceless feeling ... I will never forget how every single time I walked into a room, she would light up like a Christmas tree when she saw me."
Don't worry about a gift
Name: Elizabeth Dominick, 42
Hometown: Bradenton, Florida
Advice: Dominick's dad told her in high school when she and her boyfriend broke up before Christmas: "Well now you don’t have to waste your money on a gift."
A union apart
Name: Jen Davis, 48
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Advice: “You don’t have to live together to be happily married. An old client of mine lived across the street from his wife and said it was why they stayed married for so long."
A mindful, handsy partner
Name: Estelle Newman, 74
Hometown: Boca Raton, Florida
Advice: "Find the guy that can’t keep his mind or hands off of you. A guy that thanks God for bringing you into his life. The guy that friends and family like. A guy that really will do everything to please you."
Always kiss goodbye
Name: Nancy DeGennaro, 52
Hometown: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Advice: "Never go to bed angry. Never leave your house angry; always kiss goodbye. Death can make those angry moments insurmountable in your mind."
Be a taker and a giver
Name: Colleen Glenn, 48
Hometown: Saint Petersburg, Florida
Advice: "Be a taker when you need it and be a giver when your partner needs to take. There's no score to keep, just accountability 100% of the time. Being funny doesn't hurt either."
Lust vs. love
Name: Chris Ferguson, 54
Hometown: Hooksett, New Hampshire
Advice: “Marriage isn’t about love or lust; it’s about sacrifice.”
No one is perfect
Name:Brandon Campbell, 29
Hometown: Versailles, Kentucky
Advice: "Remember that your significant other is human and no human has ever been perfect!”
Straight bad relationship advice
Just get over it
Name: Derek Campbell, 29 (Brandon's twin).
Hometown: Versailles, Kentucky
Advice: "Never go to bed angry at each other. That is B.S. and literally impossible. If you do something super annoying at 10 p.m. I’m not getting over that crap before bedtime."
Just try
Name: Dana Sulonen, 42
Hometown: Warren, Ohio
Advice: "Someone once told me to try. Worst advice ever."
Ask your mom
Name: Katie Long, 49
Hometown: Morgantown, West Virginia
Advice: From her dad, a retired Army colonel, upon hearing her cry after a breakup: “Kate, General Patton once said, ‘the object of war isn’t to die for your country. It’s to make the other bastard die for his.’ I don’t know if that helps or not. I’ll have your mother call just as soon as she gets home.”
Get matching tattoos
Name: Erik Tompsen, 41
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Advice: "You guys should totally get matching side-rib tattoos!"
Be smart
Name: Maria Aboubaker, 46
Hometown: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Advice: "My mama said I better be smart because my sister was the pretty one."
Marry a pretty face
Name: Monty Hobbs, 48
Hometown: Washington D.C.
Advice: From a grandfather: "Marry a woman with a pretty face. That body is going to go with kids and time, but you are going to be waking up to that face every damn day of your life."
Just do it
Name: Brandon Scivolette, 40
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
Advice: "You're the captain of your own ship, do whatever you want."
The worst is worse
Name: Danny Willis, 41
Hometown: Concord, California
Advice: "Every guy's dad told him, 'The worst she can say is no.' That's absolutely not true. She can think you're creepy and tell her friends, then that's your reputation until you fake your own death and start over."
A work in progress
Name: Marissa Geraci, 42
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
Advice: “'You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with someone else.' I hate this quote. Who is 100% happy with themselves? We are all a constant work in progress."
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
