NUM83R5

One of my first discoveries in the Bible was who had lived the longest--Methusaleh, who supposedly lived a whopping 969 years.  Gee whiz! That's a long time.  I've always been fascinated with longevity.

This June, if I make it, I will turn 60.  But then, my sister Darlene turns 72 tomorrow. Her husband Bill turns 73 in June. My brother Tom turns 77 in May and his wife Janeen already turned 77.  I'm just a greenhorn, compared to my siblings!  My wife is 57.  Her sister Jill turns 60 the week before I do. Her brother Rick is 61.  While not so remarkable by biblical standards, we're all getting up there, and luckily, we're all pretty healthy in spite of some aches and pains.

What is remarkable and arguably unique is how long marriages have lasted in our two extended families.  My wife's parents were married for 49 years, I believe, before my father-in-law passed away.  Rick and his beloved Amy, will have been married, I believe, 35 years this summer.  Jill and her beloved Richard Lin will have been married 34 years, I believe, this year.  

My parents were married 52 years before my dad passed away.  My brother Tom will have been married to his sweetheart 58 years in May.  My sister Darlene will have been married to her sweetheart 54 years in June.  And of course, I will have been married to my sweetheart 36 years in April.

And while I will admit that longevity does not necessarily equate to marital happiness, in an age of divorces and marital splits (where I live in my profession), our two families have established a high bar for marital longevity--staying together through thick and thin.  Adding together the two families' (and two generations) of years of being married, it comes to 318 years--with not one divorce!  Remarkable, wouldn't you say?

Reflecting on other issues of numerical longevity of my life, here are some other numbers :

• Years since starting kindergarten at Onequa School -- 54
• Years since I started singing in choirs -- 49
• Years since being in Junior High School plays -- 46
• Years since graduating from West High School in SLC -- 43
• Years knowing my best friend Bill Harten who I met my first day at BYU -- 43.  We still talk regularly.
• Years since I lived at 509 North 8th West in Salt Lake City -- 41
• Years since I've been able to speak Spanish -- 41
• Years since LDS mission was completed to Argentina -- 39
• Years since graduating from BYU -- 36
• Years since birth of our first born, Rebecca -- 35
• Years since returning from living and teaching in Japan -- 33
• Years involved in the clothing/textile recycling business (the "rag business") -- 33
• Years since the birth of our second born, Emily -- 33
• Years since purchasing our first home in West Jordan, Utah for $44,500 -- 32
• Years knowing my very good friends Jim Birrell and Loyd Stinson with whom I shared fences in that first home -- 32
• Years since the birth of our third born, Robert (BJ) -- 31
• Years since I've been to Hawaii -- 30
• Years of being a High Priest in the Church -- 30
• Years since the birth of our last born, Doug -- 29 (in October)
• Years since moving to Southern California and leaving the only home we ever "built" and owned new -- 20
• Years, off and on, of being involved with the Southern California Mormon Choir -- 15
• Years since moving from Newhall to Los Angeles -- 10
• Years since the birth of my first grandchild, Isaac -- 8
• Years since graduating with a Masters Degree in Psychology and doing psychotherapy and counseling -- 6
• Years since being a bishop of the Glendale 7th Ward -- 5
• Years of living in Tujunga -- 4
• Years since being involved in directing the Addiction Recovery Program of the LDS Church in my Stake -- 2
• Years since coming out as the naturally curly haired fellow I am, and having a black cat -- .25!