For Shania Twain, lasting love is no longer defined only by romantic gestures or the excitement of falling for someone new.

After 15 years of marriage to Frédéric Thiébaud, the country music icon says the greatest gift in their relationship is something quieter but far more powerful: the willingness to communicate, especially when life becomes difficult.

At 60, Twain sees Thiébaud, 55, as the person she will grow old beside. Their marriage has reached a place shaped not only by romance, but also by trust, gratitude and a shared understanding of everything they endured before building a life together.

She describes him as her lasting love—the person she believes she might have chosen for life even if they had met as teenagers.

Sometimes, she suggested, it simply takes years to find the person who truly fits.

Their relationship did not begin under easy circumstances. It emerged from a painful chapter that left both Twain and Thiébaud struggling to rebuild their lives.

Twain had previously been married to music producer Robert “Mutt” Lange. Thiébaud was married to Marie-Anne, who had been one of Twain’s close friends. Twain and Lange’s marriage ended after Lange allegedly became involved with Marie-Anne.

The betrayal connected Twain and Thiébaud through an experience neither had expected. Both were facing the collapse of their marriages, and both understood the emotional damage the other was carrying.

Over time, the support they offered each other grew into something deeper.

Twain later explained that their shared pain created an uncommon bond. They were not simply two people beginning a romance with clean emotional slates. They had witnessed one another at deeply vulnerable moments and became part of each other’s recovery.

Their connection gradually turned romantic, and they officially began dating in 2009.

By December 2010, they were engaged. Just one month later, on New Year’s Day 2011, the couple married during an intimate sunset ceremony in Rincón, Puerto Rico.

The celebration marked more than the beginning of another marriage for Twain. It represented a remarkable change of heart.

After her divorce, she had been convinced that she would never marry again. The experience had left her feeling as though romantic love was a chapter she might permanently close. As a songwriter, she could easily have turned that pain into countless declarations about never trusting or falling in love again.

Thiébaud changed that belief.

His presence became impossible for her to dismiss, and the love between them eventually felt stronger than the fear created by her previous heartbreak.

Fifteen years later, Twain says romance remains part of their marriage. But what matters most now is the depth beneath it—the gratitude that comes from knowing they found each other after such a difficult period.

Their differences also appear to strengthen the relationship.

Twain considers herself capable of discussing her feelings, but her instinct during marital tension is often to step back. She may want to think privately, take a walk, meditate on the disagreement or spend time alone with her guitar.

Thiébaud takes the opposite approach.

He wants to discuss the problem directly. Rather than allowing an issue to remain unresolved, he prefers to work through it, express what he feels and look for a solution.

Twain credits that openness with helping their marriage remain strong.

She admires the fact that her husband does not hide his emotions or feel uncomfortable putting them into words. His willingness to keep conversations going—even when she might initially prefer solitude—has become one of the qualities she values most.

For Twain, having a partner who actively protects communication is a blessing.

She may need quiet time before confronting a disagreement, but she acknowledges that Thiébaud’s desire to talk and repair the problem is usually the wiser approach. His persistence prevents emotional distance from quietly growing between them.

That habit has helped transform a relationship born from shared wounds into a stable partnership built for the future.

Their marriage also reflects Twain’s larger journey toward peace.

She shares a son, Eja, now 25, with Lange. Following their separation, the former spouses continued co-parenting him. Over time, Twain said she was able to release the resentment she once carried toward her ex-husband.

She did not excuse what happened in their marriage, but she reached a point where she could again appreciate the positive role Lange had played in her career and earlier life. Most importantly, their relationship gave them a son she considers beautiful and deeply meaningful.

For Twain, peace may be closely connected to forgiveness.

That emotional shift allowed her to look backward without remaining trapped there. The betrayal was still part of her story, but it no longer had to control the life she built afterward.

Thiébaud became central to that new chapter.

What began as mutual support between two people experiencing devastating personal upheaval eventually became a relationship neither had planned. Their shared scars gave them an immediate understanding, but their marriage lasted because they continued doing the less dramatic work required after the crisis had passed.

They talked. They listened. They repaired disagreements. They chose to remain emotionally available to each other.

Twain’s reflections arrive as she continues another significant chapter in her public life. Her new album, Little Miss Twain, has been released, adding fresh music to a career that has made her one of country pop’s most recognizable stars.

Yet behind the performances, recordings and public attention, she appears most grateful for the private certainty she has found at home.

The relationship she once believed she might never experience again has become the love she expects to carry into old age.

Their story began with two marriages ending and two lives being painfully rearranged. It could have left Twain permanently distrustful of love. Instead, it led her toward a man whose honesty and emotional openness helped her believe in partnership again.

After 15 years, the lesson she draws from their marriage is not that successful couples avoid problems. It is that they remain willing to face them together.

Romance may bring two people close, but for Twain and Thiébaud, open communication is what continues to keep them there.

Source: https://people.com/shania-twain-reason-feels-blessed-15-year-marriage-exclusive-12028901