Hi Rod,

Rod I hate to break it to you but after all this time of living together you are marriage in the eyes of the law. It only takes 7 or 9 years of cohabiting---can't remember which---to become a common law wife. The fact that you call your significant other "wife" will help get her that paper, if she wanted it.

My husband I have been together since 1970 but we just got married four years ago. We differed from your situation because we never lived together in all that time. We had houses a mile apart and we spent all of our free time together. So, I truly do understand what you are saying about strong friendships keeping poeple togehter. We talked more than most married people we knew and spent more time together than couples we knew.

However, many many married people have strong friendships, too. I really don't believe that having, or not having, a piece of paper that says you're married makes any difference what so ever in whether or not people can maintain their friendships over many decades. I'll say one thing: Being married sure simplifies a lot of legal issues as you get older and health issues pop up....

Jean

In Arizona, common law is not recognized by the state for property. The way I solved the problem is that once the house was paid for, I simply put it in the name of my girlfriend and the mother of our 9 children, same for everything else, there is nothing that I want or need to own. She has the living will, I have no need for one.

Thanks for the thoughts,

Rod

Further, in my lifetime thus far as a species of animal, I have learned more than once that sharing a emotional/spiritual climax that is purely mental is by far better than the plain old physical kind. : + )

rod,

i could'nt agree with you more about the emotional and spiritual climax being better than the physical. i have a friend who i have bonded with in that way like i have with no other human. my life is richer because he is in it. i have a bounce in my step that wasn't there previously. i get light hearted when i hear his voice or even see his name on my caller id. this kind of love is FAR better than just physical.

i have EXISTED on this earth for 42 brief years, and because of this rare human connection, now i am LIVING. no matter what exterior force is causing a negative gravitational pull on me at the moment, knowing he is there makes the pain dissipate AND causes the very core of joy in my soul to exude.

how joyous your life must be to have found this and shared it for thirty six years. i pity those who never get to experience it. even if he is taken away today, at least i can cherish the yesterdays. those memories would be enough to carry me through whatever remaining days i have left on this earth.

kim

What can I say Kim, we were hippie flower children, Jasmine ran away from her parents, I ran away from society. She told me many years ago that it would be nice to have 12 children but as it turned out, 9 were enough. Today I could not imagine ourselves without the 9, I know that it sounds like a lot but it didn't turn out that way, the last 5 of our children and our first grandchild were born at home, it was so much easier that way with the help of a mid wife.

The midwife did all of the necessary things to ensure a healthy baby, she would even have her iron level checked and to avoid taking a shot of iron, eat a tablespoon of Molasses. Molasses is good stuff, it has some miracle healing properties within.

I am not too excited about being a species of animal, each day I wake up I think, "today would be a good day to die", and if I don't okay and if I do, fine.

You sure have a cute nose in your picture as well as large eyes, real nice. My pic was taken about a month ago, daughter Melody snapped a few shots, I chose one.

What blows me away is that people that I have known for years have told me that I look better and act better than before the stroke, must be giving up cigarettes, that's the only thing I can attribute it to. Also my attitude is very positive, it's not positive in the sense that I am trying real hard to remain a human, I am not, either way is fine with me. I am more focused on some issues than before, our State voted for medical marijuana two years in a row and passed it both times, no question we won but it is ignored, that is my issue. In California they have medical marijuana, maybe Arnold is more of a free thinker, I really do not know. We want it here.

It would take the place of all of the pills I was being given with no side effects. I have smoked it almost religiously since the summer of 1967 which by the way was the Summer of Love.

I have gained my weight back, at 15, I weighed 135 pounds and today I weight 135 at 5'9 inches. I feel good, it is 3:48 p.m. and I have yet to have my first meal of the day, breakfast.

Take care,

Rod