June 17 - A Most Important Date

Today is one of the most important days in my life. Today is my anniversary. We have been married 42 years. This is a time when I reflect on the experiences I have had surrounding this event. I remember the first time I met Carolyn. I was just back from my mission and was asked to give a presentation at the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah. Carolyn was in the audience that night. In early January of 1965, I went to a dance and she was there with another person. We exchanged dances and I decided that I wanted to ask her out. We began to date later that year. We had many wonderful times together. There are two dates that were particularly memorable. The first one was a trip to Bear Lake. We went with several other couples. We took two tents, one for the women and one for the men as none of us was married at that time. We took my parents boat to the lake. When we got there the weather turned fairly bad. During the night, a strong wind came up and blew over the tents. We spent most of the night trying to keep them up. In the morning, the boat had been swamped and so we spent most of the day righting it. We had sand in all of our food. We really didn't get to water ski. We started home and as we got closer to home, the lights on the car starting going out, just before we reached home, the car stopped. We had to call my parents to come and get us. It was one bad date but it was so fun because everyone was pleasant about it and no one complained. We just made the best of it. A second date I remember was one when we went to Provo for BYU Homecoming (I think). Carolyn was supposed to arrange to stay with a friend. But she failed to do so. I was not real pleasant about that because we then had to try and make some arrangements for her to stay somewhere. She finally ended up staying with my grandmother. It was not the greatest date and when I got home I was sorted of frustrated. That evening a prayed as hard as I think I have ever prayed. I think it went on for a couple of hours. I wanted to know if I should stop dating or if we should continue to pursue the relationship. When I awoke the next morning, which was a Saturday, I had the strongest feeling that I should get an engagement ring. I went to work and told my boss that I needed to take some time off first thing in the morning. Initially he told me no, but then he agreed. I went uptown to my Bishop's business (he was a jeweler). When I got to his office, he told me he had come in just by chance. We picked out a diamond and a setting. I asked him how soon he could get it done. He said he could have it by Monday afternoon. I said I needed it today. He said that the person who sets them wouldn't be in. But he would check. I went back to work and he called me to say that the person was coming in and would have it by 5:00 p.m. He said he would bring it to his house and I could pick it up there. It was obvious to me that the Lord had his hand in everything that happened that day. I gave the ring to her that evening. Being the romantic that I am, I put it in the glove compartment of the car and then as we were driving, I asked her if she could get me some breath mints. She looked and said there weren't any. There was just a box. I told her to get it out. I told her she knew what it was and if she was willing to accept it she should open it. She always has maintained she had to look at it so she opened it. I am glad she decided to keep it. It has been a great 42 years. As I think about the time we have spent together, a poem comes to my mind. It was written by Carol Lynn Pearson and put to music by Lex De Azeveo. It is called "The Last Touch".

Their first touch at seventeen was in the park, and the moon was full
She was beautiful to him
And her hair was long and her eyes were blue and her skin was warm
And she turned to him
And he thought that he knew what love was.

Their other touch was at twenty two, on their wedding night and the stars were bright
And she was beautiful to him
And her hair smelled sweet and her lips were full and her skin was warn
And she turned to him
And he thought that he knew what love was.

And then again at twenty five, when the baby came and the sun was high
She was beautiful to him
And her hair was damp and her fingers shoo and her skin was warm
And she turned to him
And he thought that he knew what love was.

Later on at fifty four, sitting on the porch all the children gone
She was beautiful to him
And her hair was gray and her forehead lined and her skin was warm
And she turned to him
And he thought that he knew what love was.

The last tough at eight five was by her bed and the moon was full
She was beautiful to him.
And her hair was thin and her eyes were closed her skin was cold
And she turned to him
And he thought that he knew what love was.

After sixty eight years of laughter and hears
He knew that he knew what love was.

June 17 is also an important day because our first child, Lori, was born on our first wedding anniversary. I always said that was great because then people didn't have to count to see how long we were married before we had Lori. She was certainly the best anniversary present we ever received. We are grateful for Lori as we are for all of our children.