Dave Ross proves communication is not always important in a relationship
Feb 14, 2012, 1:41 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 10:57 am
On this Valentine’s Day, many experts are weighing in on the keys to long lasting love.
Cornell University’s Legacy Project is collecting advice from 1,200 older Americans. Among the tips, marry someone a lot like you, friendship is as important as romantic love, don’t keep score, and talk to each other.
After 38 years of marriage, Dave echoes all of that, except for the whole talking thing.
That could be a killer to many marriages, according to Cornell’s Carl Pillmer.
“Marriage to the strong, silent type can be deadly to a relationship. Long term married partners are talkers at least to one another, and that is where, strangely enough, I have always had a problem. I do not talk unless prompted,” Dave says.
Listen to Why Dave Ross is so silent
Dave says it makes for a lot of uncomfortable silence at home and in the studio.
“I notice when we have a guest, you are so comfortable just sitting there working on your next thing thinking about whatever you’re thinking about and this other person is just sitting there and it makes me feel so awkward,” says Luke.
“I still find myself, even at home before I say something, wondering ‘does my wife really care about this.’ It’s almost like I bring talk show standards to our relationship,” Dave says.
He says he was chatty as a child, but once he got into broadcasting he became much more restrained with his words, even when hosting a dinner party.
“I always had a sense every word was permanent and cannot be unsaid…I think it just developed this caution that has now become a permanent part of my personal life.”
It’s pretty strange, considering he’s been a broadcaster and happily married for decades.
Perhaps he’s just living proof actions really do speak louder than words.
