Fei and Chas McKhann/Photograph Courtesy Edina Magazine by Marshall Franklin Long
Two couples from the congregation of St. Stephen’s Church in Edina, Minnesota, where I serve as the Rector, were recently featured in local publications as examples of strong and healthy marriages. Fei and Chas McKhann (pictured to the left) were profiled in Edina Magazine‘s “Edinans Making Marriage Work” by Rachel Swardson Wenham. Fei serves as this year’s Junior Warden at St. Stephen’s, which is one of the most important leadership positions in our parish community. She and her husband have been married for 10 years and have two wonderful children. The article describes their move from Stanford University to Wall Street and later from Miami to Minnesota. Along the way, like the rest of us, they’ve had to make a few course corrections. Looking back on those transitions and their choices about family life, Fei concludes:
Our lives are so much different than we always thought they would be. Addresses have changed and we have changed, but we are still each other’s best friend, and that makes anything possible.
Jean and Beaver Adams/Photograph Courtesy The Sun-Current by Katie Mintz
The other couple from St. Stephen’s, Jean and Beaver Adams (pictured to the left), were profiled in an article in The Sun-Current newspaper: “Be My Valentine: Edina Couple Reflects on More Than 50 Years Marriage” by Katie Mintz. Jean and Beaver have been married for 57 years, although they’ve known each other for nearly 70 years! They met in the 8th grade but didn’t start dating until after graduation from high school. Jean and Beaver continued to date throughout their college years at the University of Minnesota and still cheer in the football stands for the Gophers. Here are some of their words of wisdom:
Exercising patience and forgiveness is the key to success, both said, and well worth the companionship and love that [are nurtured by those basic practices].
Jean cites St. Paul’s well-known letter to the Corinthians on love: “Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy, it does not boast …”
“All of those things,” said Jean. “It sounds corny but that’s what it has to be. It’s those simple things you have to do.”
These stories about love in life-long relationships reminded me of a recent post at The High Calling: “Love Is a Misshaped Tree” by Billy Coffey. That’s a strange title, I know, but the story he tells there explains it and is well worth taking a few minutes to read. At the end, you’ll find more than 20 links to “Love Stories” that might encourage you and even inspire you to share your own story with others.
