Happily Ever After, Quirkily

 I was flipping through the pink section of the SF Chronicle when this picture stopped me cold:

Dressed identically for 33 years

This couple, Nancy and Donald Featherstone, got engaged on their first date and have been married for 33 years,  identically dressed all that time, right down to her shoes and his tie.  They're featured in a soon-to-be aired documentary called "After Happily Ever After," which will "bring viewers into the living rooms of some quirky, yet successful pairings...".

Oh, boy!  Other couples featured: a pair of nudists, a young Indian couple whose marriage was arranged, a pair of young moms, and couples who still write poetry to each other.  The filmmaker, Kate Schermerhorn, who's been divorced twice (her second marriage fell apart during the filming) says, "I no longer go into a relationship feeling it's going to be forever.  It's days that turn into weeks that turn into years, but the important thing is that it's making me happy now."

I can relate.  Jerry and I proceeded on a year-to-year basis until about year 15, when the marriage really "took,' and  now it's been almost 35 years.   Some people, notably our respective fathers,  questioned the match:  Jerry's dad thought I should change my last name and do all the cooking; my dad thought I shouldn't have married a divorced man with three kids.  But what the hell: I collect books on first ladies, travel, and death; Jerry collects moths, golf balls, and Mexican motel ashtrays. I think sometimes other people are baffled by our marriage, but it works.   Cookie-cutter romantic bliss doesn't,  although I'm not sure they had to find a pair of nudists to make the point.

And by the way, Donald Featherstone invented the pink lawn flamingo.