Then and Now Couple Photos Show the Remarkable Power of Love

Visiting The Beach-51 Years Later

“Love” is defined as “an intense feeling of deep affection,” or “a person or thing that one loves.” Like this couple, when you love something so much, 50 years can go by like that. *snaps fingers*

Some synonyms for love include fondness, tenderness, warmth, intimacy, attachment, and endearment.

Hugh Jackman - 19 Years

We know, we know. “What are celebrities doing on the list?” you’re asking right now. But there are plenty of celebrity couples worthy of this list, not those ones who marry and divorce all within a season of the year (ahem, Kardashians…). Take leading man Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness. They were going strong before he hit the big time and they’re going strong still.

20th Anniversary!

According to Wikipedia, “Love is a variety of different emotional and mental states, typically strongly and positively experienced, that ranges from deepest interpersonal affection to simple pleasure.”

A 'Lovely' Ride in the Park

Love is great between two people, but love is maybe best when it represents human kindness, compassion, affection, and empathy for others, not just those we personally know.

20 Years Seems Like Yesterday

Ancient Greek philosophers identified four forms of love — familial love, friendly love, romantic love, and divine love.

It's a Classic High School Romance!

More modern authors have identified and written about different forms of love, including infatuated love, self-love, and courtly love.

These Love Birds of 29 Years!

Impersonal love can be the love of a volunteer worker for their cause, an altruistic feeling maybe born from strong spiritual and political convictions.

Love Is Royalty

Impersonal love also can involve the love of material objects, such as loving pets, a love for a particular activity, or loving the Royal Crown in England.

More Than a Quarter of a Century

But at the end of the day, most of us are just looking for that interpersonal love, the love between human beings.

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

Unrequited love refers to feelings of love that are not returned. This definitely wasn’t the case for Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who have been married for more than 30 years.

Jeff Bridges Celebrates 38 Years

Bridges met his wife, Susan Geston, while he was filming Rancho Deluxe in Montana, but didn’t realize the first moment he ever spoke to her was captured on camera. Years later, the on-set photographer sent him two photos showing the moment Bridges first approached the stranger.

Let's All Cheer for Love!

In a biological sense, love is viewed as a mammalian drive, like being hungry or thirsty, according to Wikipedia.

Cheers to More Than 20 Years

While working on the set of Pontiac Moon in 1993, Ted Danson met Mary Steenburgen, whom he would later marry in 1995. The two would work on a few projects together, including the acclaimed miniseries Gulliver’s Travels (pictured). Now, more than 20 years later, the two are as close as ever, based on Danson’s Instagram account.

27 Years Of Love

Leading experts in the field of biological love divide the experience into three different, but overlapping stages — lust, attraction, and attachment.

Three Decades Together!

Lust is the feeling of sexual desire and the first stage of love, according to experts who study biological love.

This Is One Girl Bono Can't Live 'Without'

Next comes romantic attraction, in which partners find and choose the specific characteristics they want in their mate.

Pictures Fade, but Love Never Does

The final stage is attachment, which involves sharing a home, being parents, and providing feelings of safety and security.

31 Years Later, the Same Church

The three distinct stages also are accompanied by neural circuitries and behavioral patterns, according to love experts.

Lionel Messi Married His Childhood Crush

In the lust stage, the body increases the release of the chemicals testosterone and estrogen. These effects generally last a few weeks and months.

Although There Have Been Rumors, 24 Years and Counting for John Travolta

The attraction stage has the greatest variance between individuals. Studies in neuroscience indicate that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases the same set of chemicals, which include the neurotransmitter hormones dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.

So Much Love After 32 Years

The neurotransmitter hormones dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are the same compounds released by amphetamines, stimulating the brain’s pleasure center. Side effects include increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and intense feelings of excitement.

60 Years and Still So in Love

Research shows that the attraction stage of falling in love can last anywhere from one and a half to three years.

22 Years and Still Stylish

In the final stage of attachment, couples officially enter into the “long-term” category, according to science.

The Pinnacle of Hollywood Couples; 30 Years and Counting

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are thoroughly in the long-term category, where the body releases high levels of oxytocin and vasopressin, hormones that play a role in social bonding.

35 Years of Amazing Memories

Psychology differs in defining love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg posited a triangular theory of love.

You Love Who You Love

Sternberg’s triangular theory of love is made up of three components — intimacy, commitment, and passion. These components are similar to the biological basis — passion = lust, intimacy = attraction, and commitment = attachment.

After 44 Years...

The evolutionary basis of love states that love is a survival tool; humans are dependent on parents to provide, and when they are able, they look to pass on their bloodline.

Truly, Love Is Forever

In Ancient Rome, the Latin language had several words corresponding to the English word for “love.”

22 Years of Smiles

Ancient Romans used amō, the basic verb meaning “I love.” The infinitive amare means “to love” and is still used in Italian today. Latin sometimes uses amāre, which in common English would mean “to like.”

Meryl Streep: 35-Plus Years of Winning

Famed actress Meryl Streep has been in a loving marriage for more than 35 years. She married Don Gummer in 1978.

Still Laughing After All This Time

In China, the philosophical underpinnings of love are captured in Confucian thought (Ren), which emphasizes actions and duties, compared to Mohism (Ai), which champions a universal love of all things.

Can You Believe 46 Years?

Similarly, the Japanese use three words to convey the different feelings of love — Ai, maternal or selfless love; koi, or romantic love; ren’ai, a more modern construction that combines the kanji of both ai and koi, and is another term for romantic love.

More Than Four Decades and Going Strong

In Persian culture, Rumi, Hafiz, and Sa’di are icons of passion and love. The Persian word for love is Ishq.

Nearly Four Decades of Love!

In Turkey, love can be for a god, a person, parents, or family, but that one special person that someone loves is their “ask.”

Grandparents, Then and Now

The philosophy of love attempts to find meaning in the seemingly irrational behavior that we describe as love.

Young Love Forever...

In trying to explain the existence of love, psychological theories posit it as an overly healthy human behavior. In evolutionary theories, it’s viewed as a part of the process of natural selection.

Live Long and Prosper... 25-Plus Years and Counting

In spiritual theories of love, it’s believed to be a gift from god, while in mystical theories of love, it’s considered an unexplainable mystery. Do you think you’ve found love? SHARE these amazing photos and theories with your friends.