I'm worried about our diet.  We're at an age where we need to be doing what we can to stave off death.  Margie has baked bread for the entire time that we've been together--55 years this coming fall.  This isn't good.  We're not getting the recommended daily dosage of preservatives.  At our age we need all the preservatives we can get.  Note how home-baked bread quickly molds.  Store-bought bread doesn't. That's because of preservatives.  Marjorie and I are liable to mold.

Marjorie asked, "When was the last time we bought bread?"

We can't remember.  I answered, "Decades, I suppose.  I think you baked our bread in Morocco.  That was a half century ago."

"Mom always baked bread," Marjorie commented.

"She did, indeed.  Her bread is the reason we got married.  You were at BYU.  I probably went to town four times per week to see your folks.  I never announced when I was coming, but somehow Zelma always knew when I'd arrive, and just happened to have a batch of home-baked bread coming out of the oven.  She'd sit me down at the table with that hot loaf of bread, some butter, and a jar of her home-canned raspberry jam, and I'd consume half a loaf.

"It happened every time.  That couldn't have been coincidence.  As I look back on those visits I realize that she was courting me.  It worked.

"And the marriage has been successful because you carried on the tradition.  Your bread baking has literally saved me tens of thousands of dollars."