When I was a teenager, my dad gave me a talk I that stuck with me and that I will never forget.
I am now 66 years old and 42 years into a marriage to a wonderful and beautiful lady. I have my dad to thank for that... Thank you dad!

I had yet to start dating, but dad knew it would not be long, so he gave me the following advice:

1. "Save all your lovin for the right woman."
2. "Make yourself a list of the qualities you want in the woman you will spend your life with."
3. "Use dating as a process of elemination to find her, if someone you date doesn't measure up, move on and date someone else." (In high school I dated a lot and only found 2 girls that even came close)
4. "Stay with your list, and when you find her, declare your love for her and love and respect her all the days of your life. In the mean time work on making yourself the kind of man she will want to be married to."

After high school I joined the Marines, not one of my old girl friends ever wrote to me while I was away. When I came back home here she was all the time, right under my nose at the church I had attended before leaving home, she had even been at my going away party, but I hadn't noticed her. She is now my best friend, lover, mother of my children and grandmother of my grandchildren, and I love her with all my being.