After one of most beloved First Ladies in American history passed away this week, one of Nancy Reagan's strongest and most enduring legacies is the lessons that she has imparted to married couples in terms of protecting and cultivating their relationships.

Pastor and blogger Dave Willis posted on his Patheos blog what couples can learn from Nancy and former US president Ronald Reagan's relationship.

According to Pastor Willis, couples could take their cue from the great friendship at the core of their relationship. It is an open secret that the couple were best friends and even their children talked about how they enjoyed spending time together doing simple things like watching TV while having dinner.

Another thing that sets the couple apart is their fierce loyalty to each other; no matter what happened, they had each other's back. Even after the former president's death, Nancy continued to protect his legacy and reputation, which exemplified their solidarity even beyond the grave.

Ron, who led a colorful life as an actor and later as the US president, had his pick of brilliant minds to give him advice but despite all that, he trusted his wife more than anyone and sought her counsel and opinion in all the important matters. This, Pastor Willis said, spoke of his great respect of his partner's opinions, which Nancy reciprocated.

Couples should also learn to support each other's dreams to enable each other to reach their full potential as individuals and as partners. This was exhibited by both Ron and Nancy throughout their relationship and many would agree that Ron would not have become president if it had not been for the support and encouragement of his wife.

Marriage is not always a bed of roses especially for a couple who have spent most of their lives in the spotlight but no matter what trials they faced, like assassination attempts, debt, raising a blended family, the couple faced it together. Despite these struggles, they never gave up on each other.

They also did their best in their downtime to have fun and share hobbies.

"No marriage is perfect, and no couple is perfect, but I believe that Ronald and Nancy Reagan modeled a marriage that is worthy of emulation. We shouldn't try to 'copy' their marriage, because every relationship is unique, but if you'll apply some of these same principles to your own marriage, I believe you could see some positive results. You too could have 'a marriage for the ages'," the pastor said.

The former first lady passed away on March 6 at home due to congestive heart failure. She was 94.