Does one need to be a superhero...

...to utter 3 very important words?

And I'm not referring to "I love you" --

One of his subjects, Sally, said "yes" in 1948 when her husband, Marcus, uttered those four little words, "Will you marry me?" Now, with the benefit of 57 years of experience, she offers this advice to Valentine's Day lovers - and everyone else.

"There are three words that save a marriage," she says. "And it's not 'I love you.' It's 'Maybe you're right.' "

That's not Sally and Marcus in the photo, but another married couple (Harold & Dorothy) who are among the other subjects in a photo essay by Robert Fass, titled "As Long As We Both Shall Live: Long Married Couples in America."

What makes love last

By Marilyn Gardner

Next Tuesday, four little words will echo across the land as legions of nervous Valentine's Day suitors pop a life-changing question: "Will you marry me?" If the answer is yes, couples will begin a journey they hope will last a lifetime.

Not all will succeed. But those who want a view from the trenches as to what it takes to hold a union together might find perspectives in an unusual photo essay by photographer Robert Fass, called "As Long As We Both Shall Live: Long- Married Couples in America." Photographs are on exhibit at the 92nd Street Y Art Center in New York until Feb. 23. They're also featured on www.longmarriedcouples.com.

Mr. Fass's project began in 1997 with portraits of his parents, who were married 47 years. Since then he has traveled the nation, documenting what many people believe is a vanishing segment of the population: couples who have been married for 40 years or more. His youngest subjects are in their late 50s, the oldest nearly 100.

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