A shared sense of humor is critical to a long marriage — just ask any couple who have shared an entire lifetime together.

“My husband, Jim, and I have so many funny memories together, we can just look at each other in any given situation and start smiling,” said Jean Purcell of Columbia, Maryland, who has been married to her husband for almost 57 years, to LifeZette.

“We still get the giggles all the time, and maybe no one knows what we’re laughing about — but we sure do.”

Former first lady Barbara Bush, who alas just passed away on Tuesday at age 92, was known for her funny quips when talking about her husband, George H.W. Bush.

“Did I ever know he’d be president?” she said rhetorically, repeating a question she was asked during a public engagement later in her life about any presentiment she might have had of her husband’s future. “I was 19” — she paused for effect, one eyebrow raised — “and he was 20!” Laughter ensued.

Last year, University of Kansas communications researcher Jeffrey Hall surveyed the findings of 39 studies of over 15,000 participants to learn the importance of humor in relationships.

Hall found that the idea that others think you’re funny or that you can make a joke out of almost anything is not strongly related to how happy you or your partner will be in a relationship. What is strongly related to relationship satisfaction is the humor couples create together.

Related: Note to Struggling Couples: These Four Tips Could Save Your Marriage

“Say you and your partner share a quirky sense of humor, but romantic comedies or sit-coms do nothing for either of you … It’s not that any style or a sense of humor is any better or worse,” Hall said in a statement about the study, according to Business Insider. “What matters is that you both see quirky humor as hysterical. If you share a sense of what’s funny, it affirms you and affirms your relationship through laughter.”

Related: Barbara Bush Died at Home, on her Own Terms, Surrounded by Family

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Purcell said humor helps in rough times, too. “I think our ability to use humor to stay strong has helped us so many times,” she said of her longtime marriage. “You can either laugh or cry over some things — we have chosen laughter.”

Deirdre Reilly is a senior editor at LifeZette.