Some samples: 1) In 1949, journalist James Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss. Later, Mr. Morris got a sex change and became Jan Morris. Because of the sex change, the married couple was forced to divorce, but they continued to live together. In 2008, in a civil service ceremony, Jan Morris, now a writer, re-married Elizabeth Tuckniss. Ms. Morris pointed out, "I have lived with the same person for 58 years. We were married when I was young ... and then this sex-change, so-called, happened, so we naturally had to divorce ... but we always lived together, anyway. So, I wanted to round this thing off nicely. So last week, as a matter of fact, Elizabeth and I went and had a civil union." Ms. Tuckniss says, "After Jan had a sex change, we had to divorce. So there we were. It did not make any difference to me. We still had our family. We just carried on." Why do some marriages endure that seem unlikely to endure? British journalist Stuart Jeffries says, "You know what--it's none of our business. ... Enough that some mysteries remain just that."
2) Actor Dule Hill played the personal aide to the President on the TV series "The West Wing." After three years of playing the role, he was honored when a full-page photograph of him appeared in a book about the series. He bought a copy of the book and gave it to his grandmother. Of course, she was very happy to receive the book. Looking at the full-page photograph of her grandson, she said, "Look what I lived to see." Mr. Hill says, "I remember that moment--knowing her journey. She'd worked as a seamstress, walked to the bus in the middle of winter.... It taught me that when you pursue your dreams and sometimes you keep working hard, working hard and you may not get the reward yourself--but for the grace of God, it all works out in the long run. That taught me a lot. You don't know what you do today how it affects tomorrow."
3) Some people choose to live in very small houses, both because the houses are affordable and because they are good for the environment. In Madison, Wisconsin, Robert and Deborah Luther live in a very small house--396 square feet downstairs, and 156 (not-quite-finished) feet upstairs--on the shore of Lake Monona. Robert bought the house, then married Deborah. To get room for her to live in the very small house, he says, "I threw out half of my stuff so she could move in. She threw out the other half of my stuff." Another advantage of living in a very small house is that cleaning the Luthers' house takes only 25 minutes.
4) It took decades for sculptor Louise Nevelson to become recognized as a major American artist. After she had become famous, a museum executive arrived 10 minutes late for a meeting with her, and he apologized. Ms. Nevelson replied, "What's 10 minutes? Where were you 10 years ago?"
