My Mom's Mini Memory of My Dad

How we met:

Your dad had returned from his mission on July 19, 1967 and he planned to attend Snow College that fall to play basketball. It was our first day back at college and I was an officer in the LDS Student Association. I was spending my time in the Institute befriending new students and encouraging them to enroll in classes. (The institute is now the Family Life bldg.) I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people. Rather early in the day I noticed this cute, tall fellow lounging in one of the leather chairs, rather layed back, with a smirk/smile on his face. He was handsome in his stiffly starched, perfectly ironed yellow "Gant" shirt and Dockers. (You were stylin' in a "Gant" in those days. Before his mission, he had a good job working at Geneva Steel and had acquired nice clothes.)

The officers had planned a fun get acquainted night which included a dance. To learn more about our dance partners we each had a "dance program". The students were to exchange signatures during the day. That evening, we would locate the person whose name corresponded to the number on the dance program.It happened that your dad was the first person to sign my program.

I didn't know that I would be the first person to dance with him since his return from So. America. When the dance began and they announced: "Find dance partner # one." I began looking this way and that for a tall guy with amazingly long eyelashes and gorgeous blue eyes. He was easy to spot and he saw me so there we were facing each other. Anyway, there was a question attached to each number on the dance program. Our question was. "Where are you from?" He answered first. He said that he was from "here" and that he played basketball for Manti High. Hummm? I'm now wondering:"How OLD ARE YOU? I was a JV cheerleader for Manti High and have never seen you on the playing floor! You must be OLD! I must have had a stumped look on my face but he didn't change his story when I told him that I went to Manti High too. We danced and I led. So he said. What do you expect he hadn't danced for years, and that's what I had done a lot of . I was even planning to persue dance as a minor in college.

During the evening he asked me to dance with him again and then asked if he could walk me home. As we walked, he began talking about his mission, (Andes South), and then started talking about some Elder from his mission who had come home and was married within a month. "Wow!" I said,"Where did you say you served?" "Andes South" he responded. "I have a brother-in -law who served there, and he was only home a month when he married my sister." I said. "His name wasn't Mordecai was it?" he Querried. We both laughed. We had something BIG in common.

I explained that they had been married in the Manti Temple only a month earlier. "OH!" He sighed, "I would have been there if I had known about it." I felt his disappointment and said comfortingly, "Well my sister's dress is upstairs" When we get home I'll put it on and you can shake my hand. I can pretend to be Barbara." "No," He said. "it's OK. You can wear the dress for our wedding."

I did wear that dress for our wedding in July 19, 1968.