Steve Harvey Shows Us How to Keep a Marriage Strong in a Love Letter to His Wife

This summer marks 15 years of marriage for Family Feud host Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie. The pair met when he was performing at a Memphis stand-up comedy show in 1987. It’s common for comedians on-stage to target audience members and engage them in friendly banter — but Harvey took it one step further. As Marjorie walked down to her seat (she was late, so the show had already started), he announced to the room, “I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to marry you one day.”

Despite the initial attraction, the couple lost touch and didn’t reconnect again until 2005, when they finally got together and stayed that way. They wed on June 25, 2007, and in celebration of their successful marriage and to honor their upcoming anniversary, Steve wrote a romantic letter to Marjorie — published in Good Housekeeping — to commemorate their many happy years together. Read the full letter below. 

Marjorie,

Nearly two decades have flown by, and I have felt lucky every single one of those days. I don’t know if I can describe our connection in words, but I’ll try.

When my bodyguard Boomerang handed me his phone that day in 2005, I had no idea who was on the other side of it. But I recognized your voice right away, and it was the best day of my life. The next day, I met you in Memphis for lunch, and when I saw you, I knew I wasn’t going to blow it a second time. The first time around didn’t pan out the way we would have wanted it to. I became homeless, I ran out of money and I got into some trouble. Things went south for me, and I had no way of reaching out to you — this was before cellphones — so I just disappeared.

When we reconnected, I still wasn’t where I wanted to be. Even though I was making moves, I had nothing. I was in a dark space for quite some time, and I think all the stars aligned for us at the right moment.

I finally had somebody I could start over with. You were willing to get in that foxhole with me and grow with me. When we got back together, it was even better because we knew each other. It was just a perfect fit. It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t work. It wasn’t hard to be together. We laughed all the time. You made me happy. I made you happy. I filled in all your gaps. You sure filled in all my gaps. It didn’t take long for me to realize that you were the chick for me.

You gave me something I never had before in my life as an adult. You gave me peace. Receiving that gift from you freed me up to think and really do my job. But you didn’t stop there. You had a lot of foresight about my future that I didn’t have. You told me that I was going to be all over TV in mainstream America. This was before Family Feud, my talk show, my first book and Miss Universe. You told me that all of this was going to happen to me, so I had to get ready for that. I wish the world knew how smart you are. You’ve never given me bad advice. Everything you’ve told me about my career has been spot-on. All the advice you’ve told me to do and not to do — if I do it, it works out; if I don’t do it, I wish I had.

Through our marriage, we learned to go with the flow. I also learned to listen more. But the best lesson you’ve taught me is that no matter what happens, we will always be fine. You taught me how to keep moving. You also opened my eyes to a different style of parenting. The way you handle motherhood is amazing. You are a much better parent than I am because you take the time to parent. You understand our children in a way I never have, but I look at you as an example.

I think a person should give their flowers while they are living. I want to thank you, because without you there is no way my life could be this. I owe you a debt of gratitude because you simply changed my life. If people get tired of hearing me say that, that’s OK. It doesn’t change the facts. You are the single biggest reason outside of God’s grace that I am where I am today. You’re the one. I feel like if I lost everything, you’d stay with me and we’d build it up again. As a matter of fact, I know you would.

xo, Steve