Candace Cameron Bure on Marriage as Empty Nesters: ‘Keep the Joy’

Published: January 18, 2024

Candace Cameron Bure on Marriage as Empty Nesters: ‘Keep the Joy’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actress Candace Cameron Bure shared how she and husband Valeri Bure have kept their marriage strong after 27 years.

“It’s the things that we always hear, like communication, loving and honoring one another, or being respectful towards each other but also having fun,” Bure told FOX’S WE ARE FAMILY.

Not wanting to just give the “boring” answer, as she calls it, she adds that it is important to keep things new as their relationship changes.

“In 27 years, you have to keep dating. You have to keep laughing together. You have to keep the joy in the relationship,” the FULLER HOUSE star went on to say.

“And I think at this stage of my life, because we’re kind of empty nesters, really, it’s about finding the new fun in our life and the things that we’re doing together or where we’re going to go and meeting new people and new friends. And it…kind of never stops. It continues to evolve, and it’s what keeps it healthy.”

Candace and Valeri have three children together, Natasha, 25, Lev, 23, and Maksim, 21, who all have remained close as a family even as they each made their own path in life.

“We cultivated those strong relationships as they were young and all throughout their years in their small youth and then teenage years,” Bure said. “And now that they’re adults…now’s the time where you get to be friends with your kids. And it’s pretty awesome, but it’s all in the foundation and the groundwork that we get to have this fruitful relationship as adults.”

The couple’s eldest, Natasha, has followed in her mom’s footsteps with acting and has appeared in several movies such as AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES: HAUNTED BY MURDER, THE FARMER AND THE BELLE: SAVING SANTALAND and, most recently, A CHRISTMAS FOR THE AGES. She also hosted the 2019 Movieguide® Awards with her mom.

Even though she has followed the same career path as her mother, she says she worked hard to prove she can be successful on her own merit.

“I would say that I work for everything that I get, and I’m hustling on my own, and I have a completely separate life from my parents, or from anyone, really,” Natasha told PEOPLE.

At the same time, she is grateful for her parents’ influence, which has kept her grounded.

“I think because of [how my parents raised me], I don’t really get tempted too much in Hollywood,” she told Fox News. “I’m pretty secure in who I am and what I believe in and what I stand for.”

Candace’s son Lev went on to attend Liberty University and received his degree in biblical and theological studies. He works for the family wine business, Bure Family Wines. Lev is also engaged and will get married this winter.

“We are gaining a daughter very soon. My son is getting married just after Christmas, and so we’re very excited,” Cameron Bure told US Weekly in November.

While Natasha went on to follow her mom’s career path in acting, Candace and Valeri’s youngest, Maksim, followed in his dad’s footsteps, who was an NHL player, and focused on hockey while attending Liberty University like his brother.

Movieguide® previously shared the Bures’ secrets to a healthy marriage when they celebrated their 25th anniversary:

“June 22nd we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!! 25 years!!

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and, in humility, our willingness to trust Him and allow those who’ve gone before us and those who haven’t but know God’S Word to speak into us. And grateful for every other bit of solid advice and encouragement in between,” Bure shared on her Instagram.

Although Bure confessed that their marriage is not perfect, she trusts that God has deepened their relationship with one another over the years.

“I’m often asked for marriage advice. What’s the secret? Lord knows I will never write a book about it because we are still learning every year, every day, ” Bure said, “Grace. Grace. Grace. Communication (which is so important but difficult when one partner isn’t willing.) Sex. Laughter. Patience. Lots of patience. Love (a verb. which must be put into action, it’s not just a feeling).