Here is a bird’s eye view of our real life movie highlighting only the main points and without diving into the sub plots: A few family members said “you’ll never make it”; but here we are at 49 years, proving them wrong. It’s all surreal, but God knew! We were so meant to be. We grew (literally) and matured together after tying the knot unexpectedly in 1976. Our story is not far from a scandalous Enquirer-worthy smut. But with much prayer and support coupled with tenacity and much fervor, we were given some tools to succeed to 50 years and we acquired a small village, of which you all are part of. Additionally, we learned the meaning of: patience, forgiveness, understanding, wisdom, empathy, anger management, courage, fortitude, endurance, valor, intrepidity, perseverance, dignity and much more. One can say we forged through so many obstacles and quitting was not part of our vocabulary! That’s what our experiences show when one uses a magnifying glass into our past. We are two imperfect people who were joined in love and gifted with heaps of determination placing God in the center— trying our best to follow His will for us. But we never lost sight because after all, “God knew”. Edna Had I not asked him to get married immediately, I would not be a bride 50 years ago. My dad told me I will never get married, because I was to care for my parents when they got old. I would have cared for them anyway. He never liked my husband because he was determined for me never to be a bride. But later on, he realized he was missing out, because my husband was the best for me. Jesse I was completely blind-sided from the phone call (BART station at McDonald’s on 16th and Mission) I received from my girlfriend telling me she ran away from home and could I pick her up? What was I to do? Well we obviously got past all the newsy “MariTess” chizmiz that went viral in our church and our community. Our future plans were disrupted so we had to pivot and got married asap. New plan was to finish my college courses after. Just hear us when we say—-it was not an easy beginning for a newly wedded couple. We recommend that two people in love give each other time before tying the knot. Think through all the possible hurdles. In hindsight, 19 was too young to marry, however, I would do it again with this guy! Here’s to the years beyond fifty. We have lots of work to do; we have loads of adventure to look forward to—-only because it was factual: God knew!