Love Café

The Love Café Blog

by Michael and Penny

Inspirational emails from Michael and Penny about what actually happens inside a long relationship and how to keep making it better. One at a time, by email, and kept here to read.

New ones as they are written. Free, and one click to stop.

A watercolour of great gilded gates thrown open with light pouring through them, a crowd standing before them with their arms raised, and a sweep of rainbow colour arcing overhead.

September 21, 2026

Today the gates of change swing open

Penny on Yom Kippur, the Kol Nidre prayers, and why an honest review of a year only heals inside a field of love.

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A watercolour of a grey-haired woman in a climbing helmet and harness near the top of a rock face, laughing as she reaches for the next hold, with a forested valley and a town far below.

September 15, 2026

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream

A line from CS Lewis, and Penny on aging, limiting beliefs, and the dreams we quietly decide are behind us.

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A watercolour illustration of a sunlit bedroom with wooden beams and plants. A woman with a bandaged leg rests on a bed while a man stands beside her mid-conversation, a walker parked nearby.

September 13, 2026

When is your Home more than the place you live in?

A close friend had a knee replacement and was sent home three and a half hours later. She is staying with us instead.

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A watercolour of two people seen from behind on a railed deck at sunset, holding hands between their chairs, with a hot tub filling the foreground and a lake and orange sky beyond.

September 12, 2026

Listen to what your partner feels, even before they felt it

A hot tub, a deck, and a conversation we have not finished. What made it safe to start.

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A watercolour illustration of a couple running hand in hand down a runway as a jumbo jet lifts off ahead of them, seen from behind.

May 26, 2026

True Story - Yesterday, we almost missed our flight to Costa Rica

Here’s what happened, and how different it was from what would have happened a few years ago.

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