When I wrote this blog last recess, I received more emails and text messages than I have for any other, ever.

A shadow minister even called me at home to tell me it was one of the best things he had ever read! Highly unlikely, but I am as susceptible as any female to flattery…

Today I read two stories which reminded me of that blog, also written in recess.

One which made me smile and another which brought a tear to my eye.

The story which made me smile was of a couple who are celebrating eighty years of marriage.

The secret of their long and happy marriage? To have a kiss and cuddle every night at bedtime.

The second sad story of a love tragically cut short was written in the words of Natasha McElhone, whose husband Martin Kelly, a celebrated surgeon died of a heart condition aged 42 on the steps of his London home last week.

Natasha's brave article was her way of telling the world about the incredible man she was married to and carried within it a powerful message for all from a deeply solid and successful marriage.

Her words both touched and struck me.

"I loved and touched him every day..... I just can’t believe I won’t feel his skin any more, how is that possible?..... to have had ten years of utter bliss waking up next to someone who made my heart flutter..... we never raised our voices to each other."

A small section of the article referred to "their pups" and Natasha is pregnant with their third child, however, her message was of the intimate and close relationship they had maintained throughout their marriage.

A relationship which had not been subsumed by work or children or the pace, demands and constant noise and bustle of everyday life, but had remained as it had started, as something special and magical between just the two of them.

Throughout the article it was plainly obvious they had retained the passion and excitement, but the most poignant words were "we never raised our voices to each other."

It takes a selfless kind of love to achieve that, to always put someone else's feelings before yours. Not raising voices is the ultimate in kindness and mutual understanding, it demonstrates a realisation of a life shared with another whose happiness is more important than your own and thereby ultimately enhancing your own shared contentment.

People look to politicians to fix the rapid disintegration within our society today. 2 out of 5 marriages end in divorce which brings with it all the attendant problems which society in general has to pick up and deal with.

Have you ever met anyone who doesn't want to be part of a marriage like the amazing one Natasha shared with her husband or the couple celebrating 80 years?

Do you know any child from a broken relationship living with an unhappy single parent whose deepest, deepest wish isn't for mum and dad to be back together, and love each other?

It takes hard work and effort to overcome the demands of work, family and finances.

Which laws would ensure that two people are always aware that the reason their family unit began, exists and works is as a result of the feelings, needs and commitment they have for each other as two individuals?

Feelings and needs which if not tended to will over time simply fade away, leaving behind a void of emptiness and discontent which will always be filled eventually by something or someone.

No one who has been the victim of a failed relationship can ever remember the exact moment things changed, they just know they weren’t looking at the time.

How do politicians legislate for successful marriage?

Can we write a law which says 'love and touch each other every single day'?
Can we legislate to 'never raise your voice to each other'?

Natasha herself says that she has had the most incredible love and even though it has been tragically cut short she understands that others can go all of their lives not understanding, knowing or experiencing for one day what she knew for years.

Natasha and Martin had a life philosophy - work hard, expect nothing, celebrate!

I think without knowing it, this Golden if tragic couple lived the magic recipe for the perfect society.

I was listening to One Republic, Stop and Stare whilst writing today's blog.

For no other reason than I was!