Jo shared this brilliant thought on marriage, independence and the joy of doing something just for you, from time to time:

“My husband, Ross and I both love dogs, wine, our daughter, even each other. We love spending time with friends who make us laugh. We both love horror films, the darker the better. And we prefer staying in to going out. But we do have our differences. He loves video games and films featuring a lot of explosions – and usually starring Jason Statham – both of which leave me unmoved. He does not share my love of west end musicals or Kpop concerts. ‘Take a gay,’ he will beg, if I ever buy tickets to either.  

I like this about us. I don’t think you can last 30+ years in a marriage without letting the other’s personality breathe and flex. We both laugh a lot at the very dark joke comedian Chris Rock tells, about couples who know each other so completely that one of them needs to get themselves kidnapped, ‘so you’ve got something new to talk about.’   

I have a slightly less extreme suggestion: A little solo holiday, from time to time. Ross would rather peel his own skin off than join me on an exercise break in Spain, or a wellness reset in the Austrian Alps. So instead of dragging him to his idea of hell, or denying myself my heaven, I go on my own. As younger marrieds, I think we really did believe that it was like… the law, that couples must do all things together. But as wiser old beans, we realise that a successful marriage actually thrives on these mini breaks from each other.”