Museum of Broken Relationships Really Exists? Yes.

While in Croatia a few weeks ago (continuing in search of the secret to a happy marriage) my friend Mia took me to the place that last year won the European Award for Most Innovative Museum, the Museum of Broken Relationships. Yes, that really does exist.

The two people who started the travelling exhibition -which has now become a museum- were once a couple and during their breakup couldn’t figure out what to do with all the stuff they accumulated, so they put all the objects together and then asked friends what they should do with them.

Upon entering the museum, I’m amazed first that so many people would be willing to share such a personal story with strangers. But I guess most writers, like myself, do the same. An axe hanging on the wall tells the story of its owner, a woman who used it to chop up 25 pieces of furniture while her ex was on vacation.

Teddy bears, shaving kits, old wedding dresses, pink furry handcuffs, all mementos of a love gone wrong. Along with each item on display is an accompanying story the submitter wrote about their broken relationship. Some of them were still clearly in love, some incredibly bitter, and some which seemed wholly inappropriate for public consumption. But the concept makes sense.

There are few people in this world, if any, who haven’t experienced a broken heart. And what do you do with the things remaining from that relationship? Now there’s a place. I felt bad for those who were clearly the object of someone’s venom when I read many of these stories. “Oh, this one’s still bitter,” Mia said when pointing at one she thought I should read.

Story after story and memento after memento, I couldn’t help but feel grateful about the love I have and reflect on the fortuitous nature of it all. Marriages do not stay together by happenstance, they require daily action.

Love is like a home, built one brick at a time, to sustain even through times of storm. For every daily act of kindness, respect, trust and selflessness, more bricks are added to ensure protection during challenging times. When you wisely build your home, the storms of life cannot destroy it. Your love -that home- will not be moved.

Question: What little things can you do daily to continue nurturing your relationship and ensuring your marriage will be built to last?

If you’re happily married and haven’t taken the time to join the Club, make sure to join us today. It takes only seconds and, of course, it’s completely free. Until Monday…make it a great weekend!

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Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club

Fawn Weaver is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 1 million women in over 110 countries around the world. She’s an investor in real estate, tech sector and lifestyle brands. When she’s not writing or working, she's happily doting over her husband of twelve years, Keith (and sometimes manages to do all three simultaneously).