What 70 Years of Marriage Really Teaches You: Lessons From My Grandparents

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Isabel Brown Show

Episode: What 70 Years of Marriage Really Teaches You—Lessons from My Grandparents

Date: December 5, 2025
Host: Isabel Brown (The Daily Wire)
Guests: Clarence “Papa” and Shirley Ann “Memaw” Kast

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Main Theme Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Isabel Brown sits down with her grandparents, Clarence and Shirley Ann Kast, to celebrate and reflect on their remarkable 70th wedding anniversary. Through candid storytelling and warm reminiscing, they share the challenges and joys of building a life together across seven decades—offering wisdom, humor, and inspiration for younger generations about marriage, parenthood, faith, and the meaning of true partnership.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Beginnings of a 70-Year Love Story

• Meeting and Courtship

  • Clarence ("Papa," 92) describes how he, while in the Air Force, attended Shirley’s 17th birthday only as a favor to a friend. Despite initial hesitations, sparks flew fast:

    “If in my case it was almost immediately, I almost immediately knew that she was going to be my wife.” — Clarence (07:20)

  • Shirley humorously recalls their whirlwind beginning and her initial reluctance:

    “He slapped me off a log and told me I was gonna marry him. I said, you’re crazy… I thought, this guy’s nuts.” — Shirley (05:02)

• Cultural and Family Challenges

  • Their marriage faced resistance due to cultural and religious differences:

    “He’s German and I was part Indian from Oklahoma and Cherokee… Clarence brought a red headed Indian home with him from Oklahoma. So they all came that night, the whole family.” — Shirley (09:54)

  • Shirley was introduced as a surprise to a tight-knit farming family, but over time, love and acceptance followed.

2. Starting a Family Young, Finances, and Finding Joy in the Chaos

• “Get Married Young, Have Kids Early”

  • The Kasts married young, had their first child within the first year, and five children in total—echoing advice now given by culture warriors to revive the American family:

    “Would you do it all again?”
    “Yes, I would.” — Shirley (13:46)

• Financial Struggles and Career Change

  • Clarence candidly discusses financial hardship and a significant mid-life career change, from insurance investigator to salesman, which ultimately improved their fortunes:

    “It was very difficult… Finally the financials, the finances got so bad that we had to make a change.” — Clarence (13:48, 14:10)

• Work and Community

  • Shirley ran a day nursery at home and worked nights as a waitress—an arrangement that required teamwork but also let them support a lively house and socialize:

    “I made real good money, in fact, more than he did sometimes… We had so much fun with friends. Friends make life much more interesting.” — Shirley (15:07, 16:15)

3. Parenting—Raising Five Kids and Beyond

• Individuality and Achievement

  • Each child was unique, some defying teachers’ and others’ expectations but achieving remarkable successes (including a Harvard master’s degree and starting major companies).
  • The Kasts also fostered other young girls in Nebraska, providing mentorship and support.

• Coping with Illness and Adversity

  • The family experienced extended illness: Shirley was diagnosed with lupus, then considered terminal.

    “She’s the only one that survived [an experimental treatment].” — Clarence (21:57) “The gift of faith and following the Big Fella… played a huge part of my survival, of our marriage, of everything that we’ve had.” — Shirley (23:23)

  • Both faith and partnership were crucial in surviving trials:

    “Marriage is not between two people. It’s the man, the woman and God. If you allow Him to lead you, it’ll be great.” — Clarence (25:17)

4. Change, Growth, and the Evolution of Love

• How Love Changes Over Time

  • After 70 years, love has matured into deep respect, teamwork, and a sense of fun.

    “It’s more respect now, I would think.” — Clarence (26:13) “Life is a gift. Use it.” — Shirley (26:51)

• Maintaining Joy and Community in Later Years

  • The couple now lives in assisted living, bringing laughter and warmth to their peers—showing love can remain vibrant at any age.

    “Every time we go down to eat, they start laughing. What are you two gonna do today?” — Shirley (26:31)

5. Advice for Young Couples and the Next Generation

• Don’t Delay, Work Together, Keep Faith Central

  • Practical, hard-won advice includes marrying for love without undue delay, building together regardless of financial readiness, and enjoying children:

    “That’s foolishness. When you’re in love, you get married and then you work together, work these things out together.” — Clarence (28:54) “Enjoy your children… We were able to get through it all and they’ve all turned out okay.” — Shirley (29:25)

• Dealing with Hardships as a Team

  • The formula is simple but profound:

    “Prayer, prayer.” — Clarence (30:38)
    “Prayer works wonders. People don’t believe in it, but it’s unbelievable what prayer can do.” — Shirley (30:40)

6. Hope for the Future, Changing Culture, and Legacy

• Confidence in Young Generations

  • Despite cultural shifts, the Kasts express optimism for the resurgence of marriage and family among young people:

    “I’m optimistic. I think things are really changing for the better… Especially the young people, because they’re going to lead us in that direction.” — Clarence (33:35)

• Intergenerational Legacy

  • The family tree has grown to 14 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren—evidence, they share, of faith, love, and ongoing adventure.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Proposing After Five Dates:
  “About halfway through [the movie] I said, ah, let’s get out of here… I asked her to marry me... She said no. And it required a reaction on my part… I whooped her running alongside of the head, knocked her off the log.” — Clarence (08:39) “Yeah, he did butthole.” — Shirley (09:02)

• On Surviving Illness with Faith:
  “We are directed by the Voice… We listen and we listen, and it’s never been wrong.” — Clarence & Shirley (24:15–24:32)

• On Family:
  “We have 14 grandchildren, two of which died at birth and the other 12 alive. And we have eight great grand." — Clarence (30:05)

• On Getting Through Hard Times:
  “Listen… sometimes it’s hard and you don’t like what He’s got to say, but you listen and you do what you go forward. And that’s been our mantra our whole life.” — Shirley (30:47)

• On Lasting Happiness:
  “We’re happy with our relationship. We’re happy with our God. We’re happy with our church. We’re just happy.” — Clarence (27:18)

• On Legacy:
  “Life’s fun together… It’s always interesting because you never know what’s going to happen the next day.” — Clarence (27:57–28:10)

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Important Timestamps

• 04:16 — Introduction of Clarence and Shirley, setting up the premise
• 05:02–07:20 — Origin stories: how they met, first impressions
• 09:54 — Cultural and family clashes, “red headed Indian” anecdote
• 13:30–15:40 — Financial struggles, having children, adapting careers
• 16:48–19:04 — Raising five children, fostering, embracing individuality
• 20:14–24:15 — Facing and surviving terminal illness, faith and miracles
• 25:13–26:51 — How love evolves, fun in later years
• 28:41–30:04 — Marriage advice for younger generations, family numbers
• 30:38–31:58 — Coping with hardship: prayer and faith-based teamwork
• 33:35–34:30 — Hope for America’s youth and shifting cultural tides
• 34:45–36:37 — Reflections directly to each other, enduring happiness, community in old age

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Final Reflections

Clarence and Shirley Ann Kast’s story is more than a marriage memoir—it’s a guidebook of perseverance, faith, joy, and selfless devotion. Their narrative, full of spirited banter and hard-won wisdom, challenges modern assumptions about marriage, calling listeners to prioritize love, resilience, and a sense of humor—no matter where, when, or how you start.

“Life’s a gift. Use it. There’s no telling where you might go… together.” — Shirley (26:51, paraphrased)

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For anyone seeking grounded, honest, and hope-filled wisdom on lasting relationships and life’s big adventure, this episode is essential listening—and a beautiful testament to the bonds of faith and family.

Transcript

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[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

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[Isabel Brown]

Hey gang, how's it going? I'm on the road in New York City. Ugh, the belly of the beast again. Because I am back on CNN this week. I did it last night. I have a lot of thoughts but we'll come back to that another time because today we have a very special Friday episode of the Isabel Brown show planned for you. One from the vault a lot. Ms. Taylor Swift. This time from my sweet and lovely grandparents, Clarence and Shirley Ann Kast, who we call Memaw and Papa who recently celebrated their spirit 70th wedding anniversary. 70 years. We looked it up. My uncle said during the toast at the party we threw for them a few weeks ago that less than 1% of marriages in America make it to 70 years. Because there has to be a huge confluence of circumstances. How long you stayed together, how young you were when you got married, making sure you're both still alive at this late age. My grandmother is in her late 80s, my grandpa is in his 90s. And it is so, so amazing to see their love story continue to unfold and to see them continue to be each other's best friends 70 years later. So today on the show, I thought.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

It would be really fun for you.

[Isabel Brown]

Guys to get to know my meemaw and papa, hear me ask them questions about what it takes to survive 70 years of marriage together, learn some wisdom for marriage advice for myself, myself and my husband. We've been married for less than two years. So I think we have a lot to learn if we're serious about another 68 years together. And just spend some time with my family as we get closer to the holiday season season. Because truly that's what the holidays are all about. So I am pining, yearning for our family's home of North Idaho where we shot this episode a few weeks ago. Instead, I am stuck in insane, disgusting rat infested. And I'm not just talking about the rats. New York City. Pray for my soul. And this Friday, enjoy some time with my grandparents. And then this weekend, promise me you're going to turn off your devices, touch grass, get outside and hang out with your loved ones this holiday season too. Hope you guys enjoy.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I am so excited for this episode of the show. I am here with my amazing grandparents, Mima and Papa, who actually are Shirley and Clarence.

[Isabel Brown]

We're here because we are celebrating your.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

70Th wedding anniversary this weekend in our beautiful hometown of Coeur d', Alene, Idaho. Can you first just start by introducing yourself to our community and letting us know who you are?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

My name is Clarence. I'm 92 years old. I've been married to this lovely 87 year old lady, 39 for 70 years. I can hardly client Phantom Dad. It's something to think about, I guess.

So anyway, we're here to visit with our granddaughter who's a lovely lady and she's going to tell us how we're going to run this program.

Yes, indeed, but it'll be fun.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Who are you?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Well, I'm his other half, the major half, I might say. And we went on a first date in 1955 and he slapped me off a log and Told me I was gonna marry him. He asked me to marry him. I said, you're crazy. I've only seen you three times. And he says, nope, you're gonna marry me. And that's it. And I left and went to California. I thought, this guy's nuts. Then he wrote me letters, and I never could read them because his writing is atrocious. And so I decided I was gonna go back. And my half sister says, do you really love him? I said, I don't know. I was 17 years old and I said, I don't really know what love is at this point. And so I went back to Oklahoma, and my dad was there and ill. And so I spent some time there. Then we went to Nebraska, and I wanted to go. I didn't know where Nebraska was, and I heard it was cold. Oh, good God. You don't know the thing of it. Cold. 75 below once.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Brutal.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

I didn't go out then, so.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Hang on, before we. Before we go on, Papa, what's your version of that?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, she didn't tell the whole story.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I know. That's why I gotta have you jump in.

[Isabel Brown]

How did you meet Shirley?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

I was in the military, in the Air Force at Ardmore, Oklahoma. And her little town of ringling was about 35, 40 miles away. And I had a couple young men in the barracks with me. And this one boy was going with some girl in some little town in some distance from where we were. And he wanted to go. He was invited to a birthday party, and he wanted to go to the birthday party, but he didn't have a car, and I had a car. So he begged me for about two weeks to take him to that party. And I said, nah, nah, I've been out every night, you know, I don't want to go. So about 5 o' clock that night, you know, things always change when you're ready to go. About 5 o' clock at night, I decided to go. So we went. We walked into the house and remember, this is her 17th birthday. And I looked around and I said, oh, my God, what am I doing here? These are kids, you know. But it was kind of dark, and it had a big room and it was kind of dark, and I looked back in a corner, I said.

She'S a little older. This might be an interesting evening after all.

And it was. She had kind of a date with a local Yoko. And somehow or another, I don't know how it worked out, she ended up in my car that night. And then we dated every night for A couple weeks. And if in my case it was almost immediately, I almost immediately knew that she was going to be my wife.

[Isabel Brown]

How'd you tell her that?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

How did you tell me that?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

I think it was on about the fifth, fifth date we went to a movie and the movie was terrible. And about halfway through I said, ah, let's get out of here. This, this is boring. So we, and it was a beautiful moon at night and in the fall and of course nice weather. So we drove out in the country. We were driving up and down the country road and there was a big log alongside the road. And I said, let's just stop and go out and you know, have a little discussion. Of course. And during the course of the discussion, I asked her to marry me.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Can you imagine that?

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Five dates in, huh?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

You know what? She said no.

And it required a reaction on my part, which I never thought about. It was simply just happened. I whooped her running alongside of the head, knocked her off the log.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, he did butthole.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

But at any rate that. So that was it. And then she left shortly after that. Back to California. Went back to California. But I knew that was not the end of it. And we communicated while she was gone. And lo and behold, a little over two weeks later, there she's back. And I said, ah, now we got something going.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

So you knew at some point you had to go back?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

No, I'd never seen Nebraska before.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

You just were curious, wanted a free trip?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

No, I paid my own.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

And that eventually led to you guys getting married 70 years ago. Now what was that process like? I know there were some cultural difficulties with getting married. One of you was very, very Catholic, one of you was not. Walk us through what that experience was.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And he's German and I was part Indian from Oklahoma and Cherokee and you know, it was different. And they looked at me different. His oldest brother, when he brought me home, he said, he told me, he told them that he was bringing me home. Liar, liar, pants on fire, right?

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Big surprise for everybody.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

So anyway, his oldest brother got in the pickup and went to all the relatives, says, you better come home quick. Clarence brought a red headed Indian home with him from Oklahoma. So they all came that night, the whole family. The house was full and they, his mom just kept looking at me like I was, you know, I had a ducktail haircut. Now I'm going to a very conservative. They've been in the same way all their life.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Farm, farm, farm, community.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And I didn't know much about it, but it was just hilarious how they Every time I moved, they watched me. You know, they, Clarence's wife or Shirley did this, Shirley did that. And it got. I'd go out and get the shotgun and shoot birds off the cupola on top of the barn because that was more fun than sitting in the house doing dishes.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I wonder where I got that from ultimately.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

But anyway, it was.

We ended up with a wonderful marriage and his mother was wonderful and they welcomed me. It took them a while because they didn't know too many things, but yeah, and we dated three months and now we've been married 70 years.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Tell us about your wedding day, Papa. What was that day like for you?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, the wedding was at the farm in, in our home. And there was no members of her family there, which was kind of bad. But I think her mother never thought she was going to get married. So they didn't come. And we fooled them.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, we fooled them.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Did it anyway.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Yeah. I'm the youngest of nine children in the family, so when she says that my oldest brother went around the whole area, you know, to alarm all the other members of the family, that Clarence brought this red headed Indian home, you know, and they all showed up that night and so that was kind of interesting.

But anyway, I, I was the youngest, like I say, the youngest of the family and not expected. My oldest brother was two months shorter, 20 years older than I. And so we had a very farm related family, a close family, very close family.

So anyway, that's the beginning.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And one thing is I had this Uncle Jesse who was a hillbilly from way back and he, he said to me one time, he says, charlie, you marry that Catholic, you'll have a kid every year. Well, nine months and 13 days, number one.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Well, that's a perfect transition. Then, you know, there's kind of this cultural movement that's been happening with young people today to revive the American family. And there have been several decades in our country where it's been encouraged not to have children for young people, that it will destroy your career, it will destroy your marriage, it'll hold you back in life. And as you know, obviously we're trying to fight against that and reverse that for young people every day. You had a baby right away into your marriage and you ended up having five kids over a little under 10 years, if I'm correct.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

12 years.

[Isabel Brown]

12 years.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

And you followed exactly the advice that often people like Charlie Kirk are giving to young people. Get married young and have kids way sooner than you think you can and a lot more kids than you can afford. What Was that journey like, for you and would you do it all over again the same way?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yes, I would.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

We would definitely do it over, but it wasn't easy financially. It was very difficult. We. We were bankrupt at one time and wouldn't admit it. And I worked for a company. The first company I worked for after I got out of school, I worked for him for 17 years, which was probably at least 10 years too long.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yes.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

But I came from a. A time when people got a job with a good company and, and lived their whole career with that job. And that was kind of my thoughts at that time. But I. I stayed with that company way too long. And finally the financials, the finances got so bad that we had to make a change. And I went from being an insurance investigator to a salesperson, which required a completely different philosophy. As an investigator, you don't. You hide yourself and pull the other people out and get information from. As a salesperson, you sell yourself as well as the product. So it was an interesting transfer, but it worked out. And we started making money then and things really started turn. Turning around for us.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Yeah. What about you, Mima?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

I worked. I had a day nursery in my house and all these little kids, and they were fun. Oh, God, I had fun. And then I worked as a waitress at night because I didn't have to be a sit. And he could watch the kids. And I made real good money, in fact, more than he did sometimes. And true. Yeah. And, yeah, we just had. We had lots of friends, lots of card playing, you know, and every time something funny happened in one family, it went through the other nine real quick.

And we played a lot of cards and had lots of friends. One time I was expecting number five, Kelly and your mother. And we were playing Pinocchle a thing and I was winning high and my water broke. And I thought, good God, what am I going to do? But I did. I was winning high, so I didn't want to win. No, I didn't stop. I went on and the water was, you know, coming out. And so I ended up. I went high and I backed out the door because my clothes were so wet. And then we went to the hospital and your mom was born.

[Isabel Brown]

There you go.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

We had so much fun with friends. Friends make life much more interesting. They're with you practically all the time, and you can't find anything better than that.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I feel like now people hear stories of five kids kind of back to back to back, and their head starts spinning and they think, oh, my gosh, I could never Live in that chaotic of a house. You said it was noisy and loud and crazy all the time. But what can you tell us about the love that was there with your children and how that impacted your marriage over the years?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Our oldest son, Michael.

Was born with a lot of Indian traits. The silence, the don't talk, you know, that kind of thing.

But he was an extreme, inventive young man. I never knew what he was going to do. I took him to the doctor one time and asked if I should find a psychologist that treated kids. But he invented things all the time, building, yeah, plug lamps together and watch them burn, you know, he was so happy. And that just went on his whole life. He never talked much because of the Indian trade, but he was extremely intelligent. And they told me in the school, Post Falls, where I worked here, and they told me he would never graduate from high school. And now, Mr. Cast, Michael has a company, enormous company. I think they go all over the world. Oh, just in the states of Canada.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Has a master's degree from Harvard.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Sure does.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

That was hilarious.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

But he wasn't the only kid. Eventually a bunch came along.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

So what was that second one? Come. He could sell crap to a manure farmer. And so he's in sales his whole life. And the third one is a daughter, and she became a nurse because I was ill at the time, and she was at the doctor's office with me most of the time and became interested in nursing and that. And so she became a fantastic nurse. And she's still telling me what to do. And then Tim came along, and he was the intelligent one. Everybody kept saying, ben, that kid, that kid, he was in the paper all the time. One time our home burned on Halloween night of 1982. And the headlines of the paper the next day said the.

House at whatever the address was then burned. And it was the home of academic standout Tim Cass. It didn't say anything about us. Yeah, it didn't say anything about us, but he burned the house, you know. But anyway, they've been. Well, they are accomplished. Our oldest daughter is a nurse. The second daughter is a lawyer. Your mom. So, yeah, it's been interesting.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And we also took, I think it was eight other young girls into our family in Nebraska when we lived there. And that was very rewarding. Young high school girls that went to a boarding Catholic school. Excuse me. And from little towns around there. And a lot of their parents couldn't afford the tuition and room and room and board, so we invited one girl at a time to come and stay with Us and Shirley worked at nights, and I worked during the day. We had five little kids, and we told the girls that you can live with us, but you have to be an older sister. You have to watch the children, work with the children, you know, like an older sister. And they could go to school, you know, so it worked out really beautiful. And there was only one girl that we had that.

Needed a lot of work.

But they were all very successful young ladies.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

In fact, I have one of the girls that lived with us had a little girl, named her Shirley Ann.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Right after you. Meanwhile, you brought up being sick a lot when the kids were younger. And I know this was early into my mom's life. I've heard their version of the story many, many times. But early into your parenting experience, when all five kids had arrived, you were diagnosed with an autoimmune dise. And that was a very trying time for your marriage and your family. Walk us through what that experience was like and how you navigated that together as a team.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, I was a traveling salesman at the time. The same. And she spent literally months in the hospital. And she had a disease that was not curable, still is not curable, but it was also always terminal. And interestingly, in my investigative work, I had an insurance investigation on two ladies at two different times that had lupus. And they died, of course. And when I interviewed the doctors and so forth, I found out the nature of the disease and that it was always terminal. Shirley had been sick for two years, and they couldn't tell, couldn't determine what her problem was. And finally they called us in after about two years, and there was three doctors there, and they said, we finally found out what your problem was. Oh, God, that's good, you know, and so what is it? And she has lupus, systemic lupus erythematosis. I had just recently had that experience, and I knew.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

But it didn't happen. Nope. The big fellow was there and brought me through. I was in a program of people dying. You know, there was 10 of us.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

There was a research doctor.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Was a research doctor.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

We had moved to Oklahoma by that time who was researching lupus. And so he took. He, He. He didn't have a private practice. He was a research doctor. And so he took 10 patients that were terminal and used experimental drugs on them. And she was one of the 10. She's the only one that survived.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

In fact, I went to lunch one time with a doctor that was.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Had the program quite some years later.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, quite some years later. And he took me out to A real fancy restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. And all of a sudden he starts crying. And the water's running down on the linen, on the tablecloth. And I said, doc, what the hell's wrong with you? And he says, I can't believe it. I'm looking at you. I touched you. You're alive. I said, what the heck did you expect? And he said, you would never live. And he cried and he cried on that linen. It got soaking wet.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

So anyway, well, it's interesting because back then, you know, nowadays when you're diagnosed with lupus or really any autoimmune disease, it's quite manageable. It's just a lot about lifestyle and diet and how you take care of yourselves. But back then, they actually told you you had, what, three months to live and get in the bed, and that's going to be it. How did your faith together play a component in how you walked through that journey?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

That was the biggest part of our survival and our marriage and everything is the gift of faith and following the Big Fella. I called him the Big Fella because he directs everything. And I can say that that played a huge part of my survival, of our marriage, of everything that we've had, is that I know that he's there. He answers my prayers. And, you know, you just live a good life, love people and just really live life to the fullest the way it's supposed to be. And, yeah, I was so fortunate because the other nine died and I lived. But a lot of guilt comes with that, too. But I got over it with Dr. Lindemann's help.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Shirley has a unique gift. She hears the Voice. We call it the Voice. And.

I don't know who it is. I don't know if it's God himself. I don't know if it's an angel. But we are directed by the Voice.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

We've moved at the commands of the Voice. And we listen and we listen, and it's never been wrong.

One time, we had just moved into a house, and he said, it's time for you to move.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Where?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Where am I supposed to. Are we supposed to go? Well, he didn't say where. He just says, time to move. So we sold our house in two days. And where in the hell are we going? You know? And finally, we got a. You got a job offer with the Lonemill River.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Those things just happen.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

They just happened constantly. Believe, believe, believe. And I can say to every one of you who are looking, if you want a good friend that's going to guide you through life, look to the big fellow.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Interestingly, marriage is. This is our 70th year. You know, marriage is not between two people. It's the man, the woman and God. If you allow him to lead you.

It'Ll be great.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

There's no telling where you might go. 70 years into this. I'm curious. Can you explain how your feelings for each other may have changed through different seasons? And how does love look different with every passing year in marriage?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, there was a time when we were under so much stress that our marriage was stressed as well.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

But we. In fact, she went through the tunnel twice and was dead twice. Saw the bright light.

How did that. What was the question again?

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

How your love has changed over different phases of your marriage.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And like, we are matured. It's different, you know, obviously, but it's more respect now, I would think.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Would you agree? We know each other so well, we can guarantee what she's. He's going to do or she's going to do the next day.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

We live in an assisted living community of old people in St. George, Utah. And the people in the dining room, every time we go down to eat, they start laughing. What are you two gonna do today? What are you two gonna do?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

We try to have a lot of fun and we do.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

People realize that and they start laughing and having fun. You know, life is a gift. Use it. So, yeah, it's been fun. But we've had many other trials in our life, sicknesses and stuff like that. And the children. But they all turned out okay, and we're proud of them. And even proud of Curly here.

[Isabel Brown]

I hope so.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

We are very proud.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And we're happy. We're happy with our relationship. We're happy with our God. We're happy with our church.

We're just happy. We're not happy with our restricted activities, you know, physical activities.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Totally just really ticks me off, you know, you want to do so much. And that old body says.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I love hearing that from you, though. Because there's this expectation, I think, that you'll grow bored of your other half or you won't be romantically in love with each other anymore. And eventually you just have the same day over and over again. And life's not interesting anymore. But you're telling me the opposite.

Life's fun together.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, it's always interesting because you never know what's going to happen the next day. You just got to roll with it and enjoy it. That's the important thing, I think. But. And we do. We have fun. We really do.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, we do some weird things.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

You guys were at my wedding a little over a year ago. So I'm in my second year of marriage now, and it's been an absolutely amazing adventure and the best love story God ever could have given to me. And I sharing that with people in my community. But for those that are still discerning marriage or they're considering getting married to someone they love, or maybe they're like me in their first few years of marriage, what advice do you have for how to stick it out all the way through to 70 years?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, I think a lot of young people put off marriage because they're not financially in shape to get married or to buy a home and have children and all that. That's foolishness.

When you're in love, you get married and then you work together, work these things out together. So my advice would be, if anyone were to ask, don't put it off. If you're in love.

And you agree with your partner, you should get married and you should have children if you can.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

As you know, we've got some.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

You followed that advice pretty well. What about you, Mima? What would you say?

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

I would say, enjoy your children. I was the youngest of five kids and the only girl, and so I was a real tomboy and loved horses and all that kind of stuff. And I still do. But anyway, just enjoy your children. And we had so many illnesses with our children because of different genes and produce it, but we were able to get through it all and. And they've all turned out okay. We're happy with them. We're happy with our. I love our grandchildren.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

They're more fun and greats.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Tell us how many you have of each.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

We have 14. We had 14 grandchildren, two of which died at birth and the other 12 were alive. And we have eight great grand.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

My goodness, what a blessing. What a legacy.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And now we're going on with yours.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Yep. Yes, indeed. When you go through those challenging chapters together, whether it's illness or a financial struggle and moving, how do you suggest that young people band together and become a good team with their spouse and with God to navigate those difficult times?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Prayer, prayer.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Prayer works wonders. People don't believe in it, but it's unbelievable what prayer can do.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And listen. Listen to the Lord.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah. And sometimes it's hard and you don't like what he's got to say, but you listen and you do what you go forward. And that's been our mantra our whole life. And I was born and raised without any religion except my grandmother. Who was the most fabulous teacher of the Bible that you can ever hear. And she carried a Bible with her everywhere she went. And I'd go to visit her and she'd say, okay, let's read this part, you know. So we would read and we would. She'd come by and get me and say, shirley, let's go to town. And she had her apron off, so I knew she had a goal in mind. When she had her apron off, she was going to do something. And so she'd take my hand and Bible this hand and me in this hand, and would head to town and she'd stop at all the merchants. Okay, somebody lost their home. Gather your finances together. We're going to get them back on their feet. And she just went to all the stores and I heard one guy one time, we were about half a block from him, and he was talking real loud to another guy and he says, oh, God, there comes Fran. Somebody's in trouble. Open your pocketbook.

A little town in Oklahoma. But other than that, we've had a great life. Really very gifted. I remember one time I was real sick in the hospital in Oklahoma, and this intern that they had was taking me from one lab to another or something, and I fainted in the thing, and he slaps my face. Wake up, Ms. Gas. Wake up. Ms. Gass, I got to tell you something before you die. Wake up. Mrs. Gasps that husband of yours, he's a mean man.

He took that nursing, threw her into the window, and he's a mean man.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Not true.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

It wasn't true, but he was going to let me know before I died.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

No, but she was dying one night in the middle of the night, and I asked the nurse four times to get the doctor, and she never would do it. And I finally pushed her against the wall and put my nose close to hers, and I said, you're going to get me the doctor and go do it now.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Word spread around that hospital where that came from. He's a mean man.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Always fighting for each other and fighting for your family and marriage.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

One time they had a code blue. Code blue. Woman missing from X ray.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, she'd been in the hospital for two months. It was time to tour the hospital, so we took a little tour.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

You two and your adventures always crack me up. All right, I got a couple more questions for you and then we'll wrap up. Do you have hope for our country seeing this resurgence of young people re embracing marriage and family? And how is navigating, seeing the change of our culture been over the last several decades.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

I'm optimistic. I think things are really changing for the better. A lot of people don't agree with that, obviously, but that's my opinion. And I see a lot of good things happening. Yeah, I really do. And I'm very optimistic about it. Especially with the young people. Especially the young people, because they're going to lead us in that direction.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And I think Charlie Kirk was in God's plan to come and bring the youth and move them like he's moving them. I just get really excited when I see that he was a gift from God and he was taken way too soon because he could have done wondrous things.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

He still is.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, he still is. And it's going to continue on, Praise God. And people don't seem to realize. They think if you mention God, that you're some kind of nut. Well, I got news for them. I'll take the nut.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

And as we close out today, I want to give you two a chance to talk directly to each other. After 70 years, is there anything you want to say to your spouse about what's next in your marriage?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Well, the issue now, we have to really work as a team to overcome the deficits as human, you know, the physical deficits. And the thing that worries me the most is for both of us, we're kind of losing our ability.

For memory, especially words. I hate it when I can't think of words that I've used all my life, you know, so we communicate other ways.

But we're both suffering from that. And that's. That's disappointing. Disappointing, yeah.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

But it's life, you know, you have to realize. He's 92 and I'm 87.

We still got a long time ahead of us. And you just gotta get out there and do things and get involved and.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Just, you know, be happy people. We enjoy people and we stay communicating. We stay with people. We stay.

At the place we're staying. We have communities, food, of course, and we go to dinner and there's various. And Sunday people there that want to sit at our table, it seems, because.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

You'Re the fun one, obviously.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And we tell stories and they enjoy that and.

Tease each other, you know.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah, we have.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

That's the fun part. It really is.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah. We have a Greek lady that is there in our area. And she's 93, isn't it?

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

No, she's 95.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

95. And she was a dentist in Greece, and she is. Her name is Litka. And we have more fun with her. She pushes people aside to come and Sit at our table. It's really funny. And we laugh. Oh, she just sits there and she just look.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Oh, she has a deep laugh.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Well, laughing and telling stories is what it is all about, truly. And I'm so grateful that you guys were able to come laugh and tell some stories to us today. Thank you for everything.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Thank you for inviting us.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Of course.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

And we're sorry that you're not closer.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

I know. Someday soon, I promise.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And we're very proud of you.

[Daily Wire Promoter]

Thank you.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Very proud of us.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Of all the accomplishments of our grandchildren. We're very pleased and happy.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Well, I love you very much. Happy 70th wedding anniversary. That is such a rarity to be able to say these days. And may there be many more years of laughter and adventure and telling and good stories together.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

And God.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

And God. Amen to that.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Yeah. He'll help you along the way.

[Isabel Brown (Host)]

Always does.

All of this is an illusion. An echo of a voice that has died.

And soon that echo will cease.

[Pendragon Cycle Narrator]

They say that Merlin is mad.

They say he was a king in Dovid, the son of a princess of lost Atlantis. They say the future and the past are known to him. That the fire and the wind tell him their secrets. That the magic of the hill folk and druids come forth at his easy command.

They say he slew hundreds. Hundreds. Do you hear that? The world burned and trembled at his wrath.

The Merlin died long before you and I were born.

Merlin. Emrys has returned to the land of the living.

Vortigern is gone. Rome is gone.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

The Saxon is here.

[Pendragon Cycle Narrator]

Saxon Hengist has assembled the greatest war host ever seen in the island of the Mighty. And before the summer is through, he means to take the throne.

And he will have it if we are too busy squabbling amongst ourselves to take up arms against him. Here is your hope. A king will arise to hold all Britain in his hand. A high King who will be the wonder of the world.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

You.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

To a future of peace.

[Pendragon Cycle Narrator]

There'll be no peace in these lands till we are all dust.

[Shirley Ann Kast (Memaw)]

Men of the island of the Mighty, you stand together.

You stand as Britons.

[Pendragon Cycle Narrator]

You stand as one.

Great darkness is falling upon this land.

These brothers are our only hope to stand against it.

[Clarence Kast (Papa)]

Not our only hope.

[Pendragon Cycle Narrator]

Esay Mirthin slew 17 men with his own hands at Cathay. He slew 500 it.

No man is capable of such a thing. No mortal man.

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