# For Better, or Worse...



## Meanderer

*For Better, or For Worse...*

I took my Wife for an appointment with the eye doctor last week, and as we were leaving, and walking out through the waiting room, it happened.  An older couple was sitting at the far end, facing us. The room was empty, other than the four of us, and while we were still a far ways off, he began speaking: "For better or for worse...in sickness and in health...til death do us part".  It was not loud, but clearly directed at us.  We both stopped and smiled, and I gave him a "thumbs up" and an "Amen", as we walked out of the office.   It was a very uplifting moment, that stayed with us. My Wife's check-up went well...her hindsight is still 20-20.


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## SeaBreeze

Nice Meanderer, hope your wife had a good appointment with the doc.  Cute cartoon there!


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## Meanderer

*'I have never stopped loving you': Couple reunited  get married 62 YEARS after first falling in love*


*Cynthia Riggs, 82, and Howard Attebery, 92, met while working for a geology lab in the summer of 1950*
*Attebery says he immediately fell in love with Riggs, but the two never dated because she had a boyfriend at the time*
*More than 60 years later, the two reconnected when Attebery sent a coded love letter*
*They were married last year after Attebery moved cross-country to be with his long-lost love*
*[url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2734143/I-never-stopped-loving-Couple-met-1950-reunited-coded-love-letter.html*[/URL]


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## SifuPhil

Meanderer said:


> *Cynthia Riggs, 82, and Howard Attebery, 92, met while working for a geology lab in the summer of 1950*
> *Attebery says he immediately fell in love with Riggs, but the two never dated because she had a boyfriend at the time*
> *More than 60 years later, the two reconnected when Attebery sent a coded love letter*
> *They were married last year after Attebery moved cross-country to be with his long-lost love*
> *http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...uple-met-1950-reunited-coded-love-letter.html*



That's either true love or insanity.

Come to think of it, they're pretty much the same, aren't they?


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## hollydolly

LOL...the old guy still had the devil in him didn't he?..sending her a coded love letter...


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## Meanderer

View attachment 12523


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## ClassicRockr

That's EXACTLY the way we feel! We take our marriage vows very seriously and have proved it numerous times to each other over the 14 years of our marriage. But, then again, we are...........*TRUELY IN LOVE* and that's *FOREVER!!*


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## Meanderer




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## Josiah

I wish it were not the case, but these uplifting stories of enduring love and affection are very much the exception rather than the rule.


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## ClassicRockr

I wouldn't necessarily say that! Quite a number of my classmates from high school graduation (1968) are still married to their first spouse from 1970. Now, if you are talking about the generations after the "Baby Boomer" one, I could definitely agree with your feelings.



Josiah09 said:


> I wish it were not the case, but these uplifting stories of enduring love and affection are very much the exception rather than the rule.


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## Meanderer

Josiah09 said:


> I wish it were not the case, but these uplifting stories of enduring love and affection are very much the exception rather than the rule.


Without love and optimization present in a marriage, it is very difficult for it to endure.


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## Meanderer

"LOVE STORY WORTHY OF A HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT" "
'I can't live without him': Last words of wife, 97, who 'died of a broken heart' just hours after her husband of 76 years passed away


It is a love story worthy of a Hollywood script.  A devoted couple who were inseparable for more than seven decades of marriage have died within hours of each other – on their 76th wedding anniversary. 


War hero Clifford Hartland passed away on July 29, 2014 at the age of 101 and his 97-year-old wife Marjorie followed him 14 hours later. 






Their daughter Christine said her mother had 'died of a broken heart'.  A frail Clifford passed away at Saint Martin's Rest Home in Coventry hours after his wife was discharged from hospital with a broken leg.  'We think he was waiting for her to come back to the room they shared before he died,' said Christine.


'Afterwards, Mum just kept saying, 'I can't live without him'. That night, Mum rang me.  'She was upset and I told her to think about all the happy times they'd shared in their marriage while she drifted off to sleep.  'She died at 1am, and I like to think that's exactly what she was doing. 


'It's a perfect love story. I'm devastated they're gone but so happy for them - they've never really had to live without one another.' 
The couple fell met in Cardiff before the war and married soon after in 1938. 


But their love story was soon dealt a blow when Clifford, a gunner in the 7th Coast Regiment Royal Artillery, was sent to Singapore on October 1, 1941. When his regiment surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, Clifford was one of four survivors and he was forced to work as a prisoner of war on the infamous Thailand-Burma railway line.  Conditions were brutal, and 13,000 prisoners died and were buried along the route. 


An 11-stone young man when he left Liverpool Dock, Clifford weighed a pitiful five stone when he returned.  Clifford and Marjorie's daughter Christine, 67, said: 'I don't know how Dad survived - mainly luck and determination, I think. There were 700 men in his regiment when they went out, but only four ever came back. Dad was the last to die from his regiment. 


'But every day, on her way to work, Mum would go into the church she passed and pray that Dad would come home. She lived without him for four years, but she never believed he was dead.'  Clifford had been mercilessly tortured, starved, and worked to the brink of death by the Japanese.  He was forced to trek for miles each day through leech-filled swamps. 
Mother-of-two Christine said her father had once been caught smoking banana leaves in one of the 15 prison camps he had been sent to.  The Japanese officer who discovered him pushed a poisoned bamboo shoot through his leg, leaving a lifelong scar. 
Last year, Clifford said: 'The worst thing was when we had to dig our own graves. We were due to be shot on the day the war ended. 


'Then the 'all-clear' sounded. You can guess how I felt.' Clifford came home to a street party in Cardiff, and even a letter of thanks from the King. But his wife's welcome was the most treasured of all. 


The war hero was discharged from the army in 1945, and Christine - the couple's only child - was born a year later. 
The family moved to Hipswell Highway in Wyken, Coventry in 1947, and Clifford worked for Morris Engines as a factory foreman until he retired. Christine said: 'Dad was in hospital for a while after he came back from Burma, but neither of them cared. They were just so happy to be together again. 


'They had an incredible marriage. They never, ever argued. Dad idolised Mum and she adored him. 
'When they'd go to a restaurant, Dad would eat the same thing that Mum ordered. 
'They loved dancing together, and they loved singing, too. Dad had been a choirboy at Gloucester Cathedral.'


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## Pappy

Thanks, Jim. Feeling poorly today and I needed a feel good story. Pappy


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## Blaze Duskdreamer

I go through life solo by choice but I just live for love stories like these!  I think true love is so sweet!  I have to agree that they're not as rare as rumored.  I have known too many people happily (I do not count those who are obviously not happily) married for too many years to think they are really rare but they are still awesome to hear about.  Those of you who have been lucky enough to find the right one -- may you have each other for many more decades to come.

So, shoot me, I'm a die-hard romantic at heart.


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## Warrigal

Meanderer said:


>



This is very true of our marriage (almost 52 years).
I believe that married couples are meant to be each other's helpmate, among other things.
Eventually one must walk the other to the Gates of Heaven but will be denied entry until later.
This is the hard part that the marriage vow foreshadows.


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## Meanderer

[h=1]The History of Traditional Wedding Vows: Changes Through the Years[/h]"The historical roots of the wedding vows we speak today, whether or not you opt for traditional vows, go back centuries and  serve as articulations of your commitment to spend your life with another person".

http://weddings.gatheringguide.com/...tional-wedding-vows-changes-through-the-years


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## Meanderer

*The Internet Will Be Everywhere In 2025, For Better Or Worse*

In 2025, the Internet will enhance our awareness of the world and ourselves while diminishing privacy and allowing abusers to "make life miserable for others," according to a new report by the Pew Research Center and Elon University.

But more than anything, experts say, it will become ubiquitous and embedded in our lives — the same way electricity is today.

"The Internet will shift from the place we find cat videos to a background capability that will be a seamless part of how we live our everyday lives," says Joe Touch, director of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. "We won't think about 'going online' or 'looking on the Internet' for something. We'll just be online, and just look."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechcon...ill-be-everywhere-in-2025-for-better-or-worse


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## SifuPhil

Interesting article. I find it difficult now to imagine life without the 'Net - I might as well be in the Matrix for the amount of time I'm online. I work here, I play here, most of my friends are here (in virtual form, of course), I buy what little I buy here ... 

It's to the point now that when I go out into the real world I'm disoriented.


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## Blaze Duskdreamer

Meanderer said:


> In 2025, the Internet will enhance our awareness of the world and ourselves while diminishing privacy and allowing abusers to "make life miserable for others," according to a new report by the Pew Research Center and Elon University.
> 
> But more than anything, experts say, it will become ubiquitous and embedded in our lives — the same way electricity is today.
> 
> "The Internet will shift from the place we find cat videos to a background capability that will be a seamless part of how we live our everyday lives," says Joe Touch, director of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. "We won't think about 'going online' or 'looking on the Internet' for something. We'll just be online, and just look."
> http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechcon...ill-be-everywhere-in-2025-for-better-or-worse



This is different from today how?  Do I have to admit how much time I spend on-line.  Basically most of my day except for 2-3 hours, I get off to watch a little TV and then I'm usually playing games on my tablet at the same time.  If I have a doctor appointment or social engagement, I'm off-line but otherwise, I'm on-line.


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## Meanderer

SifuPhil said:


> Interesting article. I find it difficult now to imagine life without the 'Net - I might as well be in the Matrix for the amount of time I'm online. I work here, I play here, most of my friends are here (in virtual form, of course), I buy what little I buy here ...
> 
> It's to the point now that when I go out into the real world I'm disoriented.



There is a physical network of servers and hardware that drive the internet.  These could be targeted by bad guys or  the electric grid could go down for an extended period.  The question is could we survive without the internet?  Of course the other question is can we survive with it?



Blaze Duskdreamer said:


> This is different from today how?  Do I have to admit how much time I spend on-line.  Basically most of my day except for 2-3 hours, I get off to watch a little TV and then I'm usually playing games on my tablet at the same time.  If I have a doctor appointment or social engagement, I'm off-line but otherwise, I'm on-line.


It soundslike it will be in our lives, whether we want it or not.  We will have no privacy.  Everything we do will be done on-line, but in a new and more invasive way.  Just like electricity moved from powering light bulbs to powering everything, The web will find it's way into every aspect of our life.  Not a very promising picture.


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## SifuPhil

Meanderer said:


> There is a physical network of servers and hardware that drive the internet.  These could be targeted by bad guys or  the electric grid could go down for an extended period.  The question is could we survive without the internet?  Of course the other question is can we survive with it?



Well, speaking solely for myself, I got through the first few decades of my life without it and I think I did all right, so I'm pretty sure I could go back to *twitch* life without it. *twitch*

I'd just have to make some substitutions ...

For entertainment? Won't go back to TV, so I'll have to take up my cat-spanking hobby again.

For work? Guess I'll go be a bouncer again - this time in an old man's bar. And I could teach martial arts again, but just to hot younger women.

Buying stuff? Alphonse the Friendly Local Fence. He's got whatever you need.


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## Meanderer

Sounds like a plan and a half Phil! HAHA!  My old Pop visited an "old man's bar" every afternoon for a draft.  Walked a few blocks each way...to "keep the legs in shape"!


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## SifuPhil

Meanderer said:


> Sounds like a plan and a half Phil! HAHA!  My old Pop visited an "old man's bar" every afternoon for a draft.  Walked a few blocks each way...to "keep the legs in shape"!



I'd do the same if there were one within walking distance. Surprising, for Wilkes-Barre, there isn't. And the buses stop running here at 7PM, so I'd miss happy hour.


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## Meanderer




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## jujube

When I got married in 1969, I told my minister that I wasn't going to say "..and obey."  I was just fine with the "honor" but the "obey" wasn't cutting it.  He reluctantly agreed to leave it out, but went ahead and said it anyway during the wedding.  He said "honor and obey"; I said "honor".  He again said "and obey"; I said nothing and smiled at him.  My maid of honor got the giggles.  Later, the best man had to pay my late husband $5 because he had bet I'd say it and my husband was sure I wouldn't.


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## Meanderer

jujube said:


> When I got married in 1969, I told my minister that I wasn't going to say "..and obey."  I was just fine with the "honor" but the "obey" wasn't cutting it.  He reluctantly agreed to leave it out, but went ahead and said it anyway during the wedding.  He said "honor and obey"; I said "honor".  He again said "and obey"; I said nothing and smiled at him.  My maid of honor got the giggles.  Later, the best man had to pay my late husband $5 because he had bet I'd say it and my husband was sure I wouldn't.



In 1922, the Episcopal Church voted to remove the term “obey” from the bride’s portion of the wedding vows, opting instead to replace it with the promise that the wife would “love, honor and cherish” her husband.


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## Pappy

Exactly, Jim. We were married in an Episcopal church in 1956 and the word obey was not in the ceremony.


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## Meanderer

....and 20 years or so later Horace Rumpole spoke of his Wife Hilda as "She, who must be obeyed". (From the novel "She".)


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## Meanderer

*Like A Pyramid*


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## Meanderer

"He would make us laugh out loud every week as Crazy Guggenheim on "The Jackie Gleason Show" and then stun us with his incredible voice. The wonderful Frank Fontaine".


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## Meanderer




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## Meanderer

*Forming Lifelong Bonds-Or Not.    Till Death Do Us Part: Birds that Mate for Life*

*Forming Lifelong Bonds-Or Not "*Most birds do not mate for life, and most of those that do aren't quite as faithful as we'd like to think. Over 92 percent of all bird species form a pair bond and stay together for at least part of the nesting cycle. Yet DNA tests of baby birds have shown that in over 75 percent of these species, some birds have mated with one or more birds other than their "social mate."
Some birds do bond for life, some for weeks or months. 

But with hummingbirds, it's only minutes! Males have no role in building a nest, incubating eggs or raising young. 

On the other end of the spectrum are bald eagles. They mate for life, but possibly only because they can't work out a property settlement. Eagles don't stay together over winter, preferring separate vacations. The pair returns to the same nest each year, which can grow almost 9 feet wide. However, if one or the other doesn't come back, the remaining bird readily accepts a new mate at the nest". (Feb/Mar Birds & Bloom)

http://mag.audubon.org/articles/blog/till-death-do-us-part-birds-mate-life


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## Meanderer

View attachment 13270


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## Meanderer

*A Moment Of Forever*

Kris Kristofferson wrote and sings this song to June and John Cash.


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## Meanderer




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## Meanderer

*Justice Sotomayor Talks Marriage, Divorce And What It's Like To Be On The Supreme Court (VIDEO)*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/supreme-court-justice-sonia-sotomayor-oprah_n_2973135.html  (SEE VIDEO)


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## Meanderer

*Jeannie Seely Sings "When He Leaves You"*


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## Meanderer




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## Meanderer

[video=dailymotion;x1zg12k]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zg12k_anniversary-of-ernie-vicki-kovacs_lifestyle[/video]


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## Meanderer

*"Texting the Stone Age" - The Origin of Written Language?*

Our ancestors seem to have had a regular system of 26 symbols, which may have been the origins of written language. First discovered in France, these symbols crop up throughout the prehistoric world, leading some to wonder whether they originated with early humans as they migrated across the globe out of Africa some 70,000 years ago.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/02/postcards-from-the-stone-age.html


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## Debby

SifuPhil said:


> Interesting article. I find it difficult now to imagine life without the 'Net - I might as well be in the Matrix for the amount of time I'm online. I work here, I play here, most of my friends are here (in virtual form, of course), I buy what little I buy here ...
> 
> It's to the point now that when I go out into the real world I'm disoriented.





Does that explain your outfit?


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## Debby

Meanderer said:


> *Forming Lifelong Bonds-Or Not "*Most birds do not mate for life, ......
> On the other end of the spectrum are bald eagles. They mate for life, but possibly only because they can't work out a property settlement. Eagles don't stay together over winter, preferring separate vacations. The pair returns to the same nest each year, which can grow almost 9 feet wide. However, if one or the other doesn't come back, the remaining bird readily accepts a new mate at the nest". (Feb/Mar Birds & Bloom)
> 
> http://mag.audubon.org/articles/blog/till-death-do-us-part-birds-mate-life




You can add pigeons to the list of birds that mate for life.  Lovely peaceful birds that are masters in so many ways as well as being so very faithful.

http://www.pigeoncontrolresourcecentre.org/html/amazing-pigeon-facts.html


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## Meanderer




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## SifuPhil

Debby said:


> Does that explain your outfit?



What's wrong with my outfit?


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## Meanderer




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## oakapple

Sorry Debby, but I dislike pigeons as all they bring is mess, yuk!
Phil, it has to be said that your new outfit does not suit you, try another one?


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## SifuPhil

oakapple said:


> Phil, it has to be said that your new outfit does not suit you, try another one?



*sigh*

Well, Valentine's Day is coming up ...


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## Meanderer




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## Meanderer




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## Meanderer




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## Pappy

:weird:


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## Georgia Lady

Anybody


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## Meanderer




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## Linda

Meanderer said:


>




I like this!  It's sure been true in our 50 years of marriage.


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## Ken N Tx




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## Linda

I had to steal that old couple and put them on my Facebook wall.   They are so cute.


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## Meanderer




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## Ken N Tx




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## Meanderer




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## Underock1

Meanderer said:


> I took my Wife for an appointment with the eye doctor last week, and as we were leaving, and walking out through the waiting room, it happened.  An older couple was sitting at the far end, facing us. The room was empty, other than the four of us, and while we were still a far ways off, he began speaking: "For better or for worse...in sickness and in health...til death do us part".  It was not loud, but clearly directed at us.  We both stopped and smiled, and I gave him a "thumbs up" and an "Amen", as we walked out of the office.   It was a very uplifting moment, that stayed with us. My Wife's check-up went well...her hindsight is still 20-20.


When I took my wife to dialysis, we would often meet couples where one spouse would be the dedicated caretaker of the other. Dialysis is a tough deal for both. Four hour sessions, three times a week. Despite all, they were always happy couples. It _was _uplifting. I actually remember saying the " for better for worse" thing to another couple, myself. We all understood each other perfectly.


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## Ken N Tx

.


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## NancyNGA

Ken N Tx said:


> .
> View attachment 16957



This one is priceless!


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## NancyNGA




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## Meanderer

...his Wife's name is Dolly!


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## NancyNGA

Sorry to pull up this old thread, folks.

But I just ran across this, and thought it was just too cool not to post somewhere.  I believe it fits here nicely.


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## Meanderer




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## Ronni




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## oldman

I remember watching a show on one of those crime story channels, which included an older man contacting his high school girlfriend after his wife of 50+ years had passed away. I believe he lived in California and she lived somewhere in the Midwest, I think. 

I guess the old boy was worth some money and his two daughters were against this relationship. The old boy asked her to go out to California and marry him. This really bugged the sisters and they began scrambling to somehow protect his assets. 

Just before she arrives in town, the old boy went missing. He was never found and for the time being, the daughters allowed her to stay in the house. They never did find the man or give the viewers the outcome. 

IMO, I think the one S-I-L killed the older man and got rid of his body in some covert way. The S-I-L was a part time handyman for the older man and tended to things that he was unable to do. He also seemed very worried about the money, so I’m going with him. 

There’s more to this story, but this post is already too long. 

I think this is the story, but it states that he was with his son and that’s wrong. He was with his S-I-L.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/50...nished-after-marrying-high-school-sweetheart/


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## Meanderer




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