The Seasons of a Great Marriage

The youngest couple we've met was married almost 70 years. Only death separated them, and then not for long. They're in heaven now, most likely driving a classic car to the malt shop for yet another date night!

These two loved each other and everyone within their GPS area knew about it. Their love was genuine and authentic, fresh and real. You could listen forever and never hear either of them complain about or criticize their life partner. However, you could hear them compliment each other all day long! They never ran out of positive, encouraging things to say about each other.

Well into their 80's and still young in every way, they celebrated their wedding anniversary by going to Alaska. They stayed in a fabulous hotel in Anchorage, charming the staff and other guests with their infectious good humor and deeply romantic relationship. When the hotel found out that it was their 67th wedding anniversary, the General Manager decided to comp their entire stay.

Ray and Wilma Bridges were exceptional people, but the pattern they left behind can be followed by any married couple. Love each other well, speak positively about each other always, keep having new adventures, keep learning new things. This couple never slowed down and never stopped: Death had to catch them on the run! And as believers already realize, even death is temporary.

Autumn is a great season to get outdoors, spend some time together, go on a hike. You don't have to spend money (and who has any?) all you need is the desire to be together and a place to get away. Trample around in a pumpkin patch or wander through an apple orchard. Take a horseback ride or let a tractor pull you on an old-fashioned hayride. Have it your way --- but get it done.

Be the kind of couple that would make Ray & Wilma smile if they saw you....

Sunday @ Steamers

Steamers Jazz Club is a Fullerton fixture and a staple of the SoCal jazz scene. Today it fills to overflowing; the crowd spills out into the sidewalks and onto the streets. Busy servers fill plates with appetizers and take orders from new arrivals.

Daniel St. Marseille is here to perform -- he's in this place often; he proposed to his wife here a decade or more ago. Today is ostensibly a graduate-level recital for a Cal State Fullerton degree, so Dan has gathered the masters, young and old, for an afternoon of sublime sound and good-natured competition.

A half-dozen pieces, three of them composed by St. Marseille, fill a bustling club with inspired improv: keyboard battles trombone, guitar mocks piano, soprano sax mixes it up with everyone. Tom Hynes on guitar nearly steals the show in the final number; yet every other musician matches his level of excellence, each on his own instrument. Today, Hynes is on fire: He is absolutely ablaze.

For this listener (and from an informal survey of surrounding tables) the sentimental favorite today is "Emily" -- a Johnny Mandel tune sung by Julie Andrews in the title role of 1964's "The Americanization of Emily." Since then Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett have made it their own, but today it belongs entirely to a lone saxophonist, standing center stage and waving off the band for a bluesy, soulful solo. Not that we don't love improv --- such creative noise, and so much of it! --- but in "Emily" we find today's center (and we can usually locate the melody line too).

The band beautifully deconstructs "Speak Low" early in the set. A Kurt Weill piece composed for musical theater, the song has been covered by almost everyone. Today the original is systematically taken apart, then joyously reassembled in several new ways, by a sax teacher and graduate student, together with his hand-picked cohorts -- each at the top of his (sorry gals, the musicians were male today) game.

A word about these cohorts: The aforementioned Hynes kicks the walls out on guitar. Both Chris Dawson and Ryan Pryor dispense sheer excellence via the keyboard, each in an entirely different form. Pryor is simple, soulful, sardonic --- Dawson swings samba and riffs majestically on 3-piece combo interludes. Roger Shew lays down the bass with masterful authority: Is he the best bass in SoCal? Today's performance argues yes. Joey Sellers takes a trombone where it hasn't gone before (through the roof) and brings the house down in the process. Thomas White caresses the percussion with meticulous consistency: the epitome of cool. And on the final number, Jonathan Rowden riffs an impressive alto sax line as Maestro St. Marseille opts for soprano. The full band, in full voice, closes out "Ka Leo" (a St. Marseille composition) with a playful freedom that displays not only great confidence, but also much purity of form. Yet today, in the final analysis, belongs to the man who gathers all these talents together in one place, for one purpose, then directs their genius into full view. That man, noticeably more relaxed after each amazing piece concludes well, is Dan St. Marseille.

Mr. St. Marseille, you have graduated. You earned a PhD. from this listener and from each of the six or seven tables in every direction nearby. Don the robe and square off the cap: You're the new master!

Keep track of what's happening in this busy jazz venue (http://www.steamersjazz.com/) and keep an eye on the future of composer and musician Dan St. Marseille, plus a rising sax star in Jonathan Rowden, and each other member of today's crew. Live musical performance, much like sessions in the recording studio, is a continuous mix-and-match of players and skills, friends and cohorts, instruments and genres. Today St. Marseilles shows us inventive compositions, impressive arrangements, and bulletproof skills on the sax. All that, plus a knack for surrounding himself with first-rate talent. Sheer genius, and an afternoon well spent.

I Am Dying Like An Angel....

Exactly one century ago today, Macedonia gave our tired little globe one of its greater gifts. In the village of Skopje, two Albanian parents celebrated the birth of Agnes Gonxha Bojakhiu. How could they have known that this tiny baby would one day become a venerated nun, a helper to many, an example to all...

Today is the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birth. Working at first by herself, then with the help of dedicated others, Mother Teresa began relentlessly caring for "the least of these" --- those who were dying in the back alleys of urban Calcutta. She opened a hospice unit, called Pure Heart, and simply cared for those who were dying, alone and forgotten, too poor to receive help.

One dying man, resting in the arms of this beloved nun, famously told her "I have lived like an animal, but now I am dying like an angel..." His experience was shared by thousands of others who were treated with dignity, receiving genuine love from caregivers motivated only by a desire to serve Christ.

In the name of religion, many mistakes have been made in the past. We can be certain that more mistakes are ahead in the future. Yet set against the backdrop of greed, politics, legalism, self-righteousness --- and other sins of religion --- at times one encounters the true life of faith, being lived simply and honorably.

Mother Teresa's life reminds us of this. Parents giving birth today, 100 years later, may hope their daughter grows up to become a CEO, or their son an electrical engineer. These are noble aspirations to be sure. But what if a parent, cradling a newborn on this day, simply breathed the hope that this new son or daughter would grow up to emulate Mother Teresa, who herself emulated Christ by taking up the basin and the towel, and serving others....

In Loving Memory: Thomas R. Perry

When a man of integrity passes, his life is celebrated by those who were inspired, mentored and blessed by his example.

Thomas R. Perry of Smithville, Missouri was such a man. All who knew him were immediately aware of his faith in God and his love for his family. Tom's faith and love were authentic and genuine: this man was not fake or phony or fraudulent: He was real.

Tom's passion for aviation led to a long career as an instrument mechanic for Trans World Airlines (later American). His collection of transportation memorabilia led him to found the TWA Museum in Kansas City, where artifacts from flight history are on display.

He was buried with full military honors near his farm in Smithville. Tom served his country during the Korean conflict and was a strong supporter of military families and all those who sacrifice for the cause of freedom.

In the photo at left, Tom is making a batch of his world-famous chili, a staple at family gatherings for three generations. He was quick to laugh, always ready with a story. Tom was noted for finding a new gadget or buying a perfect gag gift for friends.

Tom Perry saw the best in people; consequently he brought out the best in all those who knew him. He is survived by wife Kathleen, three adult children and their spouses, and nine beloved grandchildren. In addition his extended family and his friends remember him with fondness.

All of us who knew Tom are permanently impacted by his life. His faith in God and his love for family remain as a shining example, set before us to lead us in the right directions.

E pili mau na pomaika'i me 'oe

E pili mau na pomaika'i me 'oe

As the sun slips softly behind the chiseled slopes of Diamond Head, two friends make gentle promises on a Kahala beach.

These two dated in college, yet each eventually married someone else. Nearly five decades later, each having survived the death of their original partner, they hold hands as they quietly form a new union.

A handful of friends stand watch. Former students, current Sunday School class members, a sister. The loving circle offers affirmation and blessings as the early evening sun frolics in frothy waves behind the bridal pair.

E pili mau na pomaika'i me 'oe

Scriptures and praying, pledges and repeating: Troth plighted and pledges made. Is it simply the passing of time that makes these words sweeter, or is it the shared history, all those years ago, when younger hearts could not have foreseen this autumnal blessing?

There are moments when less experienced persons speak these vows, and you find yourself wondering “Do they even understand what they’re promising?” Today, surrounded by the richness of deeply ripened relationships, it is evident that both bride and groom speak words of carefully chosen, deliberately purposed intent.

This is not an accidental union. We are awed by it, a tangible tingling that slips in somehow between the Scriptures and the prayers, the pledging and the plighting.

Perhaps the groom’s former student and the ceremony’s ‘Best Man’ captures it perfectly for all of us as witnesses. “God Hides in Plain Sight,” Dean Nelson suggests. Hand-in-hand on the beach, a small circle of friends is surprised by joy. This evening on the sands of Oahu’s southern shore, the One who loves us is not in hiding. We bow in reverence, welcoming and accepting the Divine embrace.