Even after 14 years of marriage, Trisha Yearwood admits she still “lights up” whenever her husband, Garth Brooks, enters a room. “I am that sappy person,” she exclusively tells Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. “But it’s a really good feeling!”

Despite the high rate of divorce among showbiz couples, Garth, 57, and Trisha, 55, prove soulmates really do exist. “I had been married [to first wife Sandy Mahl] for 13 months when I met [Trisha],” Garth confided to Closer at a celebration of A&E’s Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On. “When someone asked, ‘What did you think of [Trisha]?’ I said: ‘I felt like I just met my wife.’ Which was weird!”

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Despite their instant bond, Garth and Trisha didn’t become a romantic couple until 2002 — which Garth views as a blessing in disguise. “If we’d gotten married [earlier], either the career wouldn’t have been what it became or our marriage wouldn’t have lasted. I feel very lucky.”

Trisha believes the time she and Garth spent as friends also helps keep their marriage strong today. “We always had a very deep respect for each other,” she explains. “It’s the friendship and the respect that sustains you. That’s the key, plus we laugh all the time.”

After their 2005 marriage, Garth and Trisha coparented the “Friends in Low Places” singer’s daughters — Taylor, 27, August, 25, and Allie, 23 — with their mother, Sandy. “I didn’t have children, so to be a bonus mom to these three girls was something that I didn’t know I needed,” says Trisha. “I am so grateful to have them in my life.”

Garth adds that the family they created — although not traditional — has been a blessing to everyone. “My girls are a perfect blend of their mama and me, with Trisha’s influence on them,” he says. “I would not change a thing.”

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