Marriage Was Not What Shanice Expected in Her 20s: "I Didn't Think About the Ups and Downs"

While Flex didn't give much thought to marriage in his 20s, Shanice did, but when she finally took the plunge, marriage wasn't quite the storybook fantasy she had imagined.

"I thought marriage was just gonna' be perfect," Shanice says, "I didn't think about the ups and the downs part."

Now the longtime couple is in their 40s, and with nearly two decades of marriage under their belts, their perspective has changed.

"The reality today— Marriage is work, it's communication, patience, it's perseverance," Flex says.

While the couple recognizes the inherent challenges in maintaining a lifelong bond, their deep love for each other remains a powerful guiding force. Shanice notes one other key to their success:

"It's keeping it sexy and hot all the time. You can't get comfortable and not keep it spicy, 'cause you'll get bored. If you're gonna' be with this person for the rest of your life, you've gotta do whatever you can."