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Kirby: Church counsel can be helpful or hurtful. Either way, it shouldn’t be the decider.

In the 1950s, my devout Latter-day Saint parents followed the exhortation of church leaders to marry young and immediately set about having as many children as possible.

This wasn’t necessarily bad advice, provided those heeding it were equipped for the task. My parents weren’t. But being earnest members, they gave it a good try. They married and had four children in less than four years.

As the eldest (and least expected), I was just over a year old before I had to make way for the next kid. By the time I was 3, there were four of us, or a family of six living on the income of what amounted to an Air Force corporal.