Marriage 11724

My wife Marlene and I are 80 years old and are approaching 60 years of marriage. 

We were married in 1964 at Assumption Church on the Feast of the Assumption. We had lots of assumptions about marriage.

We have 6 kids, 12 grandkids and 6 great grandkids. We stay in touch with all of them. We are enjoying them and appreciating the skills they inherited and are motivated to develop. They are each as different as their DNA.

We believe in God’s Plan and have learned that humor is the lubricant that holds us together. I call Marlene Kato from the Pink Panther movie, because her job is to attack me to keep me sharp. We tell Alzheimer’s jokes. I claim to have a better memory because I went to what’s-his-name’s memory course.

From 1964 to 1975 we had 6 kids. Our first 10 years in St Louis were busy and productive. Marlene was a stay-at-home mom and I finished college and worked 3 jobs. We were close to our relatives and enjoyed seeing them often. 

I used 2 excuses for us having 6 children. The first claim was that we did it to save the Social Security System. My next claim is that God told us He needed more good people. My excuse for moving to Kansas was that we were deported from St. Louis because having 6 kids made us polluters and Kansas needed more people.

Marlene was exhausted from raising 6 children and was ready for a change. I completed by goals at Washington U and was ready resume my manufacturing career. Leaving St. Louis ended my 18 year career as a Musician. I was grateful that I got to work at age 14, pay my own tuition and evolve from Rock to Blues to Jazz and I still listen to my Jazz CD recorded on the job.

In Kansas we bought a boat and camped with the kids on weekends from 1974 to 1983. We had dates and hired baby-sitters.

We recovered from our relationship difficulties because we believed that our marriage was God’s Plan for us. In Kansas, we looked for programs to help us get better at being married. We attended a Marriage Encounter Weekend in 1974 and learned that Love is a Decision. We wrote letters to each other every day and it worked. We became Marriage Encounter Leaders in 1975 and Engaged Encounter Leaders in 1979. We shared our experiences on weekends with engaged couples.

In 1983, we joined the Atlanta groups and gave Engaged Encounter Weekends until 1990 when we became Marriage Ministers for St. Jude’s parish until 2000. 

I loved what I did in my career.  Marlene got to become a Dental Hygienist in Atlanta after raising the kids and also loved her job. Our kids did well in Atlanta.

Despite my busy career as a Strong Achiever, I managed to keep our moves to a minimum. We moved from St. Louis Mo. to Salina Kansas and finally to Atlanta GA. All the kids got married in Atlanta and are settled close enough to return to our home in Dunwoody for holidays.

We believe that God’s Plan includes difficulties we need His help to overcome.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader