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Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, has made a lifelong commitment to improving the relationship between people and animals.

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70th Birthday. Oh My.

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Jim and I were born on the same day of the same year. (Honest. Our marriage license application caused all kinds of trouble because they were sure we had made a mistake.)

We celebrated our 70th birthday last week–feels like a big one. We are so lucky to be still here, and still relatively healthy. Lucky, lucky us. And lucky, lucky me to have found Jim.

Love you, babe. Best thing that ever happened to me. Sorry for the fuzzy photo, was very dark in the restaurant. (But fuzzy might be a good thing really. . . Sort of like vaseline on the lens?)

Comments

  3. Chris from Boise says

    Congratulations and belated happy birthdays! In dog years (if the old wives tale were true), you’d be merely ten. 🙂

  7. Anne Resseau says

    Happy Birthday to both of you. Wishing your journey together to be filled with happiness and health. Peace!

  10. Kandy says

    Happy Birthday to both of you! May there be many more coming at you. I turned 71 in March of this yr and I must say, I believe lots of working with shelter pups, keeps me in pretty good shape and definitely helps my outlook on life. Pets and all animals are good medicine.

  12. Jill says

    Happy Birthday
    Reach the same milestone next week
    Same gratitude for reaching it with relatively few problems
    Happy returns to both of you

  15. Mary Beth Stevens says

    Oh, these birthdays! They do seem to accelerate and accumulate, don’t they?😊. But you both look blissfully happy. And isn’t it wonderful having all of this accumulated wisdom that we collect over the years!

  17. Julie M. Palais says

    Congratulations and Happy Birthday! It was good to see you in Madison back in October. Julie Palais

  19. Sarah Todd says

    WOW Happy Birthdays ! it is wild to be of an certain age..I’m about to turn 60 and yet don’t feel like an old lady yet, thank goodness for the dogs and sheep in my life they keep me moving and in touch with my heart and JOY. Happy Happy here’s to many more.

  20. KC Wilson says

    Remember the old saying, “If you have your health you have everything”? When we all were much younger it didn’t seem like such a big deal. Now it’s ringing closer to home and that saying means something. Enjoy your birthdays, stay healthy, try to stay out of hospitals, laugh a lot.

  21. Helena says

    Happy Birthdays! I will be joining you at 70 in a couple of months–it seems like a big deal, so I have to remind myself that I have been celebrating ‘my 70th Halloween’ for example, for the past year. Congratulations…and yes, fuzzy is good at our age!

  22. Joan says

    Happy Birthday!!! My late husband and I also were born on the exact same day and year as each other. Once when we were both at the doctor getting vaccinations or some routine thing, the receptionist must have noticed the birth-dates asked if we were siblings. which at first seemed an extremely odd question to ask a couple. When we said were were husband and wife and explained we were born on the same day and year, she said she had noticed the birth dates and assumed we were twins. Now maybe married couples grow to look alike, BUT my husbands ancestors were middle eastern and mine European and no one ever though we were related before. New privacy rules probably lessen doctors receptionist questions about birth dates and who is related to whom, but it still happens. We humans are fascinated with kinship, with DNA tests now being the rage, and a, us and them, mentality being prevalent in my country’s politics. I have often wondered if dogs can smell or otherwise determine kinship. Just what information does all that pee mail contain?

  23. Trisha says

    Wonderful story! And I’ve been surprised at how many married people share birthdays. I think I’ve heard from four others now on the blog and Facebook. We should start a club!

  24. Trisha says

    It IS a big deal! As a zoologist trained in biology, making it to old age feels like a great victory. We should be so proud (versus the ridiculous shaming our culture does now related to age.) 70’s rock!

  25. Trish Kalhagen says

    Happy Happy Birthday!! That is a great one to celebrate! Amazing how you also share the same birthday. Love it!

  27. Gayla says

    Happy birthday to you both! In the Japanese culture, the 60th birthday marks a sort of ‘new beginnings.’ So you’ve both been on your second life path for a decade.

    I hope the two of you awake everyday with the joy of eleven year olds on summer vacation!

  29. LisaW says

    That’s only 10 in dog years 😉 Still pups. Happy Birthday(s). You look so happy.

    My husband and I are one year and one day apart, and so for one day a year, we are the same age. If I were a betting person, I would have bet on these numbers: In the year 2000, we had known each other 20 years, and we were a combined age of 82 on that one day, which divided by 2000 = .041, which was our age for a day!

  30. Renee says

    Happy, Happy birthday to both of you 70-year-youngsters. What a milestone and a great occasion to look back on all you’ve done (and forward to what comes next . . .).

  38. Melanie Hawkes says

    Happy birthday to both of you! I’m 39 today. Have a year to plan my 40th. After several health issues over my life I celebrate every birthday I have, especially now that I’m healthy. I think everyone should, rather than think of it as getting old, celebrate the fact that you’re still alive and living well.

  40. Helen says

    Happy belated 70th to the both of you! I wish you exactly what Gayla says: that you wake every morning with the excitement of 11 year olds on summer vacation!

  41. Lucille White says

    I have just found this in my long list of mail I haven’t gotten to, but perhaps Thanksgiving is the PERFECT day to have found it! I wish you both many many more years of happiness ahead. I am thankful for all the things I have learned through your marvelous books and blogs. You two have been blessed with love, true life, which eludes many all their lives through. Keep on being who you are, and you will be blessings to many who will never see your photo or your blog. You have enriched my life, and my best friends as well. Thank you and keep on loving. That’s the true ” fountain of youth”!

  42. Diane says

    Oh wow…I’ve been away from reading the blog for a while. Happy belated Birthday to you both! Keep young through love.

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