To sustain a marriage is not easy, let alone a family with special needs children. It has taken us the last thirty-plus years to learn how to live and work for a better marriage. Stress with kids, finances, and lack of compassion has pushed us to the extreme almost weekly. The D-word has been spoken weekly in a toxic environment… yet we are still together after 38 years. We saw firsthand the benefits and the damages of such circumstances. There are some moral principles we stick to as our bottom line. We will share some strategies we used to stay connected, both the successes and the challenges… not easy, we made it.