A family that runs together, stays together

Описание: Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Marianas Press shares the 20-year love story of Chad and Angela Taflinger, who, bonded by sports, have seamlessly woven an active lifestyle into their marriage and their parenting. Listen in on their story that began with love at first sight, along with their advice for a healthy and lasting relationship.

For Chad and Angela Taflinger, sports aren’t just hobbies—they’re the glue of their marriage, their parenting, and their everyday life on Saipan. Married for 20 years this year, the couple have three children—Landen, Addalee, and Kaylen.

Angela said, “If you’re on island, you know us as Taflingers, the running family. Most of us run—you’ve seen our kids in cross country and track and other sports as well, Chad and I both have done soccer here on island and we loved it. We are a family that loves to be outside, be busy, we love to play games, compete with one another. But yes, we’re very active.”

The couple’s love story first bloomed, what Angela described as “love at first sight,” when they met in college at Anderson University in Indiana. They were both late to their first dinner together because Angela was on the track team and Chad was on the golf team at the time.

From there, the rest was history. After starting their family, they moved to Tennessee before relocating to Saipan primarily for ministry, and have now lived here for almost four years. Chad is a teacher and coach at Marianas High School, while Angela is a teacher and coach at Saipan International School. Together, they also lead the Saipan Church of the Nazarene.

The couple loves being outdoors and taking advantage of Saipan’s tropical weather and scenic views. Their favorite place to run is the CPA Airport Road loop—where they also did their interview. They also run along the Beach Road Pathway, at American Memorial Park, and at Peace Park. They take part in Run Saipan races and other events as well including the Rota and Saipan Marathon and the NMA Christmas Relay. If they’re not out running, they are cheering on their kids—who are also athletes—at the pitch, on the track, or on the courts, or coaching their respective school teams.

Chad shared he is actually not a huge fan of running, but that his kids are what pushes him to run. “I love the competitiveness of it and my kids really push me to stay active and stay up with them so that I don’t get too far behind,” he said.
Their advice for a lasting relationship? Communication and finding things to do together—and for them, that means being outdoors, staying physically active, and serving in their church.

“Communication is really important. And then also, the other thing that I think is important is finding something that you both enjoy to do together, and that you make that a priority. So whether that means, go and taking a walk, or do something outside, or watching a favorite movie, finding something on TV—but finding something to do together to keep that communication and that excitement I guess you would say, is important. Especially when you get kids, and it gets busy, and activities go left and right and all over the place, finding some common ground to kind of bring you back together as a couple is really important,” said Angela.

Read the full feature by Leigh Gases on our website.