Yeah, it's been a while. Suffice it to say that combining households takes a lot of energy, both physical and, more importantly, emotional. I've done this a few times now, and it wasn't quite so difficult when I was younger. In fact, this, as well as other experiences related to the recent merger, leads me to compose a new piece of advice: Stick with the love of your youth. Hmmm, well, I'll need to work on that a little more before I can add it to Renice Wernette's Free Advice, but that's the seed of it.

Besides combining households, another aspect of the advice has to do with the perception of age. By way of illustration, compare a photo I took of Brad over 25 years ago with one I took last week with my new cell phone:

 

Without such comparisons, I don't notice that Brad is more lined and cragged (or how much bigger his ears have gotten) – he's still the kid I was infatuated with over 36 years ago. Of course, I suppose it helps the perception that he still acts like it ;-)