What makes a marriage work?

I’ve had people ask me how we’ve managed to stay in a good marriage since ‘72. I don’t know. We married so the child wouldn’t be born a bastard (it still meant something then). The first five years we stayed together mainly to spite our friends and family that said it would never work. Lust became affection, affection matured into love, love became bound with a sense of continuity and stability, Before you know it, it’s 2009 and we’re still here.

Besides, I didn’t want to lose half my stuff.