He is more outgoing and verbal and he can talk about anything with anyone, he has great long term memory, and he can fight his battles anytime. She on the other hand, has a shorter term memory and she is careful about which battles she fights.

Although they have their little distinct differences, their strong commonalities—ideas on morals, family values, and religious beliefs—are what kept them together for over forty years.

Though rare to see in today’s world, English honors teacher Mrs. Harmaning and her husband, Mr. William (Ken) Harmaning have proven to the world that true love is still possible to find and that marriages can last. In June of 2009, the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

Both graduates of Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, Mr. and Mrs. Harmaning started dating in September of their freshman year of college. Four years later, on the Friday after senior graduation, they had a traditional church wedding with two hundred guests.

Since that day, up until today, the couple have done close to everything together. They work in the garden, remodel and paint the house, cook dinners, and even go grocery shopping together.

Mr. Harmaning also has a motorcycle which the couple loves riding. They go to Al Pine, Lakeside, Julian, and even ride up the coast. During the summer they go on longer trips and this summer, they have a trip planned to ride along the coast to Seattle.

Mr. and Mrs. Harmaning have two grown children, Joel and Janelle, two grandsons, Kai and Will, and are expecting two granddaughters shortly.

“The best thing about marriage and having children, and even having grandchildren is the chance to relive and be young again,” said Mrs. Harmaning. “Everything is youthful and full of life.”

Mrs. Harmaning’s marriage has been the best thing that has ever happened to her. Although she admits that there have been a few hardships, she says that there have never been any regrets.

“Ken and I are best friends; we do everything together and we share everything with one another. We were good friends in college and we got to know one another very well in the four years that we dated. We had already had problems and knew how to solve them together. We also learned how to laugh over the unimportant things. There were no surprises when we got married but there was a lot of respect.”

Alongside friendship, faith and their love for God plays an important role in the couple’s relationship. Mr. and Mrs. Harmaning are both involved members of the Church of the Nazarene. Mr. Harmaning has a degree in religion and also used to be the youth administrative pastor. He does a lot of mission work has even been to Haiti where he had helped build a church ten years ago. Mrs. Harmaning, herself, is president of the mission society at the Church of the Nazarene.

Surprisingly, Mrs. Harmaning never had a serious relationship in high school. She focused on her studies, knowing that she wanted to become a teacher, and emphasized on friendships.

“I had crushes, some that I remember, but the whole ‘relationship thing’ wasn’t my main focus. I had many guy friends and we hung out a lot. We would go to the movies, go bowling, and just hang out; that’s all I ever needed and I had fun.”

Although she didn’t have relationships in high school, Mrs. Harmaning still thinks they are fine as both her children dated in high school and her daughter even “went steady” for a while.

“I believe it is possible to find true love in high school as long as enough time and work is put into finding the right person. Get to know the other person, become good friends, test it out for a while, and then take it from there,” said Mrs. Harmaning. “meet a lot of people and even try dating different people. Consider what is important to you and don’t fall into the peer pressure of others. Keep friendships and have respect for everyone.”

For Mrs. Harmaning, love is unconditional, committed, understanding, forgiving, and friendship. About her marriage and love in general, Mrs. Harmaning said, “It is a journey and an adventure and I have loved every moment of it. If I had the chance to go back in time, I would do the same thing all over again.”