Ron Howard reveals marriage rules with wife of over 50 years

Ron Howard tied the knot with his wife, Cheryl, in 1975, with the couple having now surpassed the remarkable 50-year milestone together. The couple met in an English class at Burbank’s John Burroughs High School in the ’70s.

However, that doesn’t mean their relationship is effortless, and Ron has previously spoken about the marriage rules the couple follows to maintain their happy life together. “Some of staying together for that amount of time is luck. You have to grow together,” he told People.

“You can recognize when you’re veering off a little bit and try to work on it, sure. People talk about marriage requiring work and commitment, sure. I don’t think you can will it into existence.”

Ron was just 21-years-old on their wedding day, which took place on June 27, 1975. Despite his young age at the time, he admitted: “I was just so sure.”

The filmmaker continued: “I think as individuals it kind of has to work out for you that this is still the one, and that your bond is something you value and want to keep building on. I don’t think you can really fake that very well or should. But in that world of not letting stupid stuff or life’s ups and downs sabotage your bond, your relationship, that really gets back to communication. It’s a practice.”

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The Happy Days star and his wife share four kids: daughter Bryce Dallas, 45, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle, 41, and son Reed Cross, 39. Ron explained that he has also been inspired by his daughter Jocelyn when it comes to his marriage.

“One of my daughters (Jocelyn) is a yoga teacher and she always talks about ‘life is a practice.’ I think relationships require that. Communication is not always easy for either side. They say women communicate more easily — that’s probably true. Guys tend to withhold maybe a little bit. But forget all that: You just have to learn to believe you can problem-solve together,” he explained.

“And it ain’t perfect. Never is. Still isn’t. But when you do practice that process, it works.”

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Ron admitted that he and Cheryl do have disagreements, but what matters most is how they communicate with one another. “You begin to recognize who the issue is more important to, and begin to analyze that. And learn to give and take, with some balance. Learn to recognize when it’s out of balance. Learn when semantics is getting in the way, which is often the case,” he shared.

“When you stop and shine a light on really what’s bothering both or one of you, you can usually get to the bottom of it and recognize, oh, there’s not a giant adjustment involved here. This can be sorted out. Sometimes it’s big and you have to say we agree to disagree but it doesn’t mean we’re not in love and married and doing this together.”