Irv and Alma Phillipson: 60 Years of Blessings

 I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Phillipson for the story.  The love and adoration he has for his wife could be heard as she shared the story about their partnership.  Allow me to pass that information on to you.

Irv and Alma Phillipson, the parents of five, will be married 60 years in September 2009.  They dated a year and a half before getting married.  Mr. Irv admitted to being shy about asking Ms. Alma out.  In fact, he sent her friend to ask for the date for him because he didn’t want to be turned down. 

They dated for six months before he asked her mother’s permission to marry her.  There was one little glitch – he was of partial Jewish heritage and Ms. Alma was Catholic.  In those days such unions were frowned upon.  However, her mother felt something coming on and went to the monsignor for permission for them to marry.  Despite their religious differences, they received blessings to do so.  As you can see, their union was as blessed back then as it is today.

Being faithful to each other; never fighting about anything; and compromising have kept them together.  Religion is important in their relationship.  Ms. Alma is a strong Catholic and their children were raised Catholic.  Additionally, they have a true partnership.  He shared that when he had a small business and wanted to take off early to play golf, he would call Ms. Alma.  She would come and keep the store while he went to play.

Mr. Irv’s advice to couples considering marriage:

• In handling disagreements, you have to give once in a while;
• You have to give and take;
• Not everything is a bed of roses; and
• Be truthful to each other.

It was truly a blessing for me to have spoken to Mr. Irv about his partnership with Ms. Alma.  I wish this lovely couple many more years of marital blessings.

Note from Editor:

I would like to thank Dave Phillipson, President of CEO Space, Long Beach (www.CEOspaceLB.com), for introducing me to his parents for this story.  Although we do not know each other personally, his response to my request for couples married to 50 years or more is greatly appreciated.  Now everyone from LinkedIn and my reading audience on As Not Seen on TV know what a great guy he is.