Tuesday, June 11, 2013

I want to tell you a love story.  Way back in 1974, I left home bound  for The University of Arizona in Tucson.  After arriving, I went to the LDS institute and found an apartment looking for a roommate and began attending classes.  As a fund raising service opportunity, the men’s group made hamburgers in the snack area for sale and I volunteered to work one day, and who should walk in but this cute girl in with brown hair wearing a skirt and what I have been repeatedly informed were not go-go boots.  We made a bit of small talk and a month or so later we were both invited to visit our friend, Linda, in Colonia Juarez, Mexico a few days after Christmas.  My roommate, Craig, and I decided to carpool with that cute girl and her younger sister, so I drove my 1964 Chevrolet Impala to Casa Grande from Phoenix and picked up Craig, and then over to  Safford where we picked up Beverly and Susan, and then drove to Mexico.  Linda’s family had an apple orchard in Colonia Juarez where she was raised and we stayed in their home.  They had a huge Christmas tree in the living room and were gracious hosts, but I remember little about them because I was paying too much attention to that cute girl.  The bunch of us went for a ride in the back of a pickup hanging over the cab freezing, and I discovered that maybe she was paying a little attention to me, as we tried to huddle together for a little warmth.  We did generate a little warmth, or so it felt to me, and even exchanged a first kiss.  By the time I delivered her back to her family, Beverly and I were definitely interested in each other.  When we got back to college, we became almost inseparable.  I came to meet her roommates and found myself enjoying her cooking almost every day.  She could cook, sew, get straight A’s in school doing seemingly little work, and was extremely capable in everything she did.  I knew that was what my Mom could do so that is what I thought all girls could do, but I had discovered that was not true.  In every way, she had captured my heart.  We became almost inseparable and our grades began to show it.  I nursed her through the German measles that semester, and by March, we were already thinking about marriage. It wasn’t something that we even discussed, but each just assumed. We drove to Solomonville (a small town outside of Safford)  to visit her family several times, and at the end of one uncomfortable evening, I followed her father into the bedroom and asked him for her hand in marriage.  He consented.   Finally, after deciding that June was unreasonably soon, we decided on August for our marriage date.  At the end of the semester, she went home and I moved to Safford.  Beverly’s dad had agreed to employ me as a laborer with his construction company for the summer, so working crazy shift-work, we saw each other as much as we could and finally, on August 15, we were married for time and eternity in the Mesa, Arizona temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  That night we had a reception at my parent’s home in Phoenix, and drove to Safford the next day where we had our second reception. Both were beautiful and we saw so many of our loving friends that neither of us remember much of, because we still only had eyes for each other.  About two days later, we packed everything we owned into a horse trailer and drove off for Tucson.  We found a small apartment in a poor section of town not far from the University where we moved in and were deliriously happy, despite the crickets in the ceiling that chirped all night….every night. I became a much more serious student because I didn’t have to chase that cute girl anymore.  We both worked for Larson Construction again the next summer, living in the back bedroom of Beverly’s grandmother’s house.  It was an exhausting summer and we moved into a new apartment when we got back to school in the fall.  We made it our home, and in January of 1976, our son, Robert, was born.  A month or so later I was accepted to dental school in Boston, Massachusetts and by June, we had loaded everything we still had into the back of a 1967 Chevy pickup I traded our waterbed for and began driving across the country.  We have had many adventures since then, including having 5 more wonderful children, but the highlight of my life has always been that cute girl I met all those years ago.  Happy 60^th Birthday to my wonderful wife, Beverly.