text: CLOSE Everyday for the past 40 years, Bill Bresnan gives his wife a token of his love and affection. VIDEO BY: BRIAN JOHNSTON 
   
   Buy Photo Bill and Kris Bresnan sit with 25 boxes of cards and letters that he’s written to her over their 40 year marriage. (Photo: BRIAN JOHNSTON/STAFF PHOTO)Buy Photo 
   
   Editor's Note:Bill Bresnan and wife Kirsten of Toms River have been married for nearly 40 years. He has penned more than 10,000 love letters to her — one each night of their marriage. He shares their incredible story of a relationship fueled by love, passion and infinite amounts of expression. Name sound familiar? You may have heard him on "The Bill Bresnan Show," WABC radio's first financial call-in program, beginning in 1982. To this day, he can be heard on local radio shows. 
   
   So there I was, in 1974, at the podium of my classroom. 
   
   In walks this beautiful, blond, obviously Northern European Woman, (that's Woman with a capital "W," by the way) who will become my student for the next six weeks, four evenings per week. 
   
   It didn't take long for an even more serious attraction to develop. 
   
   I was preparing candidates to become licensed in the securities industry by taking their Series VII exam. Not long after meeting in class, Kirsten and I began commuting to and from Long Island, together, on the Long Island Railroad. 
   
   We exchanged notes, drawings and "little scribblings" on paper napkins over coffee on the train. 
   
   The same napkins and notes developed at lunches and dinners later on. It was about this time, in the mid to late 1970s, that I started to send her periodic, funny cards as well as post cards from the various cities at which I was training other students at their own brokerage offices. 
   
   I'd mail a card from Chicago, a note from Los Angeles, a napkin from a restaurant in Boston. 
   
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   Into her scrapbook they went, and the collection took on a life of its own. 
   
   Every day — 365 days per year, each year — I write to my wife. 
   
   The year she turned 50, I started sending her Happy Birthday cards 50 days before the actual date, and one for each day of that milestone year. A filing system of some sort had to be developed. Those wonderful "Pendaflex" hanging, files came to the rescue as each folder was able to hold one month's cards, notes, etc. Since Kris also gives me cards and notes (no, not every day, but very often), many months have more than just my 29, 30 or 31 cards in them. 
   
   Buy Photo Bill Bresnan writes a card for his wife. He has written her one every day of their 40 year marriage. (Photo: BRIAN JOHNSTON/STAFF PHOTO) 
   
   To this day, we have organized this collection in such a way so that anytime we'd like to know where we were or what we were doing on a particular day, we take out the file, dated say, August 1981, and revisit the past. 
   
   We look back on "romantical" cruises (we both come from seafaring families — Kris' father was a Norwegian seaman, and my dad was a marine engineer, so we have taken three dozen cruises — our veins are obviously filled with salt water). 
   
   Maybe recall romantic dinners at a particular restaurant somewhere. 
   
   We read my compliments to Kris on something special she may have cooked one night, see what the weather may have been that day, etc. 
   
   One thing that holds true throughout every sentiment — every single card is an expression of my deep love for Kris by being signed, "I love you madly++, my Darling," followed by the infinity sign. 
   
   Expressing that love on a daily basis isn't by any means where this all ends. 
   
   Buy Photo One of 25 boxes full of cards and letters that Bill Bresnan has written his wife over their 40-year marriage. (Photo: BRIAN JOHNSTON/STAFF PHOTO) 
   
   We eat by candlelight every night with romantic music playing in the background; every good night kiss is followed by I love you, the morning ones, too. 
   
   There is no TV in our bedroom and never has been. 
   
   When it was possible to have eight digits on license plates, Kris' plate read, "ELSKRDEG," which is an abbreviated version of "love you" in Norwegian. The same sentiment is expressed daily in my own e-mail address. 
   
   Each dedication page of the various books I've had published ("Bill Bresnan Speaks on" series) is just another very public way of expressing just how I feel for her in English, Norwegian and even in Egyptian hieroglyphs. 
   
   Some time ago — Kris wasn't on this particular trip — I was fortunate enough to visit the monuments of ancient Egypt. Our guide at the time was reading to us from the various deeply carved columns which depicted the harvest, bread making, pro-creation, etc., and just mentioned in passing a sentiment that the Pharaoh must have wanted preserved forever. This line of hieroglyphs spoke, in so many words and characters, of the love he felt for his son. It brought tears to my eyes right there in the desert, and the point stayed with me till I got home. I found a volume translating these ancient writings, located the exact column and quote and had the very same hieroglyphs engraved around a pinkie ring that Kris has worn each day for more than 40 years. 
   
   Buy Photo Bill and Kris Bresnan sit with 25 boxes of cards and letters that he’s written to her over their 40 year marriage. (Photo: BRIAN JOHNSTON/STAFF PHOTO) 
   
   The translation of this phrase is far too personal to disclose here, but the meaning and text is everything to us. 
   
   Another very "romantical" occasion came to mind as I typed these few words. 
   
   We have always enjoyed 1955's "Summertime," staring Katharine Hepburn and Rossanno Brazzi. A number of years ago, we decided to re-enact that particular love story for ourselves. Cunard took us out of Florida; six days across the Atlantic and then across the Mediterranean to Genoa, Italy. We, eventually, got ourselves to the famous Milano Centrale Railway Station where a high-speed train ride took us over the railway viaduct and into the Stazione di Venezia, Santa Lucia. We took the water taxi to our pensione, and that evening, ate at the foot of the Rialto Bridge right on the canal's edge. 
   
   After dinner we walked, as all visitors to Venice must, over to Piazza San Marco so I could have one of the groups of musicians play not only the "Summertime" theme, but "Al Di La" for Kris. 
   
   That's a "romanticalissmo" event you all need to experience. 
   
   The bottom line to this story? 
   
   The route to experiencing "Decades of Love" is to each work at it every day. 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://on.app.com/1DdPOYu ||||| NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) — One couple’s 40 year love story has surfaced just in time for Valentine’s Day. 
   
   Every single day of their marriage has been documented in love letters. The couple shared their secrets to happiness with CBS2’s Meg Baker. 
   
   The couple has 10,000 love notes filled with endless ‘I love yous.’ Bill Bresnan has written a letter to his wife Kris every day since they met in 1974. 
   
   “They weren’t all love letters. They were hilarious, very funny, cute, not all mushy mushy, all kinds,” Kris Bresnan said. 
   
   The flirting began when the couple started commuting together. 
   
   “And while we were on the Long Island Railroad having coffee together I’d scribble a little something a napkin or write it on the end of a newspaper and that kept developing until I gave her actual cards,” Bill Bresnan said. 
   
   Without Bill knowing Kris started to organize the notes by date. The couple calls it their love diary. 
   
   “It’s almost as though you know how perfect I was. I know how perfect you are for me,” Bill said. 
   
   The couple never goes to bed angry, but also has never really had a major fight. 
   
   “We kiss goodnight and it’s like starting the next morning with a clean slate,” Bill said. 
   
   The couple is now screening the letters, deciding which are appropriate to be saved for their four children someday, and gently disposing of notes meant for their eyes only. 
   
   “My biggest fear, and I guess this is human nature, as I get older my biggest fear is the day I forget to give it to her,” Bill said. 
   
   The key to the couple’s love? 
   
   “Do things together, have fun together, love each other,” Bill said. 
   
   But for Valentine’s Day, they say keeping it simple is important. 
   
   “Sometimes we go out to dinner. Sometimes we cook at home. We started Valentine’s Day earlier, I started giving Kris Valentine’s Day cards at the beginning of February,” Kris said. 
   
   One parting piece of advice the Bresnans offered for the younger generation is to put the cell phone down and focus on each other. ||||| Noah, the main character in the film "The Notebook," wrote a love letter every day of the year to win Allie's affection, but a real-life New Jersey man has outdone Ryan Gosling's beloved character. 
   
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   Toms River resident Bill Bresnan, 74, has written a love letter every day to Kirsten Bresnan, 74, his wife of almost 40 years, and there are more than 10,000 of them filed chronologically in 25 boxes at their home. 
   
   And he continues to write them to this day. 
   
   "All the letters are signed, 'I love you, my darling' with an infinity sign," Bresnan told ABC News today. "They're essentially a love diary. For example, I could pick out a day in 1982, and it’ll begin with the restaurant we ate in or a movie we saw and then a reaction to that." 
   
   Elara Mosquera/ABC News 
   
   The daily expressions of love began as notes scribbled on napkins and small pieces of paper he gave to his wife over coffee while commuting together shortly after they met, Bresnan said. They met while he was teaching a class to license students in the security industry. 
   
   "She was this beautiful Northern European woman who struck me like a bolt of lightning," he said. 
   
   Their relationship blossomed. They had a simple wedding in the city and have lived happily ever after since, he said. 
   
   "We've never had a fight once in almost 40 years of marriage," Bresnan said. "We might disagree on something, but we talk about it rather than argue." 
   
   Elara Mosquera/ABC News 
   
   Bresnan's never a missed giving Kirsten a card, he said. Even when they're away, he makes sure to send postcards or write letters in advance. 
   
   "My biggest fear now, given my age, is forgetting -- but luckily I'm still pretty sharp," he said. 
   
   One of his favorites out of the 10,000-plus letters were a series of 50 cards, one for each of the 50 days before her 50th birthday, he said. 
   
   The daily cards are part of Bresnan's recipe for making a relationship last, among other things, he said. 
   
   "The key to any relationship is that you both have to work at it every day," Bresnan said. "And never go to bed mad. Talk about everything. Everything should get resolved before your goodnight kiss." 
   
   Courtesy Bill Bresnan 
   
   The couple continues to keep the romance alive through little things they do together in their daily routine, such as playing 'Boggle' over breakfast and having candlelit dinners with wine, he said. 
   
   Bresnan also goes big once in a while. 
   
   "We once reenacted the Katherine Hepburn movie 'Summertime'" Bresnan said. "I took Kirsten to Italy. We sailed across the Mediterranean, took a train to Venice, wandered the city, had pizza at San Marco Piazza and literally did everything in that movie together." 
   
   He also gave her a friendship ring featuring hieroglyphics he saw during a trip to Egypt that were an expression of a pharaoh's eternal love for his son. 
   
   Elara Mosquera/ABC News 
   
   Despite the countless good times, the couple has weathered many a storm together, as well, he said. 
   
   "When the doctor told me I had cancer a few years ago, Kirsten was right next to me holding my hand," Bresnan said. "It wasn't, 'You have cancer," it was, 'We have cancer.' And I did the same thing for her when she got cancer a few years later." 
   
   Bresnan hopes that their love story will hope inspire younger couples, who seem to be more in love with their gadgets, he said. 
   
   "I see youngsters at restaurants sitting across from each other buried in their screens but never talking or looking at each other," Bresnan said. "I want them to enjoy the time they have with each other and treasure it." 
   
   Though Bresnan has already sent his wife plenty of Valentine's Day cards before the date, he said they'll still do something simple to celebrate. 
   
   "We'll probably have a nice dinner, a special bottle of wine and a piece of chocolate," Bresnan said. "We're past the craving for jewelry and expensive nonsense. We just enjoy simply being together."
target: – Bill and Kirsten Bresnan are off to an early Valentine's Day start—they've been sharing holiday-themed cards since Feb. 1. But that's not even close to the whole story. Bill has penned a love note to his wife nearly every day since 1974. Bresnan tells the Asbury Park Press that "Kris" was initially a student of his in a six-week prep class for the Series 7 exam; when they started commuting on the same Long Island Railroad train, he began by jotting notes to her on napkins. It grew from there to, by today's count, 10,000 letters, organized chronologically in some 25 boxes. The couple, who say they've never had a fight in all those years and prefer to talk it out instead of argue, call the collection their "love diary." The signature of each letter bears an infinity sign. Some of the notes are short and sweet—"Thank you for being you and loving me," scribbled on a postcard in December 1989—but sometimes Bill goes big, reports ABC News. In the 50 days leading up to Kris' 50th birthday, for instance, he sent a series of 50 special cards. But in the end, Bill says, the key is to focus on and treasure each other, not phones and other distractions; he says dinner each night is eaten by candlelight, with romantic music as a backdrop. As for this Valentine's Day, "We'll probably have a nice dinner, a special bottle of wine, and a piece of chocolate," he says. "We're past the craving for jewelry and expensive nonsense. We just enjoy simply being together." As for his letter-writing habit, he expresses a single qualm to CBS New York: "As I get older, my biggest fear is the day I forget to give it to her." (One couple's love letters from WWI were recently uncovered.)