Photos courtesy of the McIntosh family
By JAMES BRASHER | Special to the Palisadian-Post
Roses, candies and a letter professing our love: Wednesday, Feb. 14, marks that one-day event where we celebrate by giving extra attention to that special someone in our lives.
For Palisadians Jennifer and Jim McIntosh, Cupid comes not once a year, but every day.
If there’s a secret sauce to a long marriage, filled with love and adventure, these two certainly have the recipe. Meeting at the local Starbucks, I could instantly tell that Jennifer had a youthful flare for life and a gentle way about her. She knew more about football than most sports reporters and expressed a genuine love for the community.
She then told me about the first date she had with her husband, which was actually a blind date set up by family friends. At the time she was seeing someone else but said, “He wasn’t a run-around guy, had such great character and great values. That’s what you look for.”
They met in January and couldn’t recall their first Valentine’s Day together. But, after a two-year courtship they married in 1968 and never looked back. Before children, they both loved to run, to travel and, as Jennifer said, “Do stupid things together.”
She wouldn’t go into detail on the stupid things that they did, but she certainly gave me the secret to long love. What made them fall in love was character and similar values. What helped them stay in love was cooperation and mutual respect for one another.
They never fought because, as she said, “It wasn’t our personality. Sure, we had disagreements but we listened to the other person and that’s what you have to do.”
Even after having two sons (Scott, now an emergency room doctor, and Kent, a professor at the University of Oregon), they remain active, going camping and traveling together. She continues to walk everywhere, even with a bad knee, and he still goes to the gym.
They also routinely give one another space, which Jennifer said is important to keep things fresh.
It’s apparent that they have the right recipe to a long and successful life together. Her advice to others: “If you feel really strongly about something, then do your best to talk them into it. Don’t force it. And always respect others’ attitude toward something.”
Jennifer and Jim will celebrate their 50th anniversary on Sept. 14.
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