Lucky Me

Anniversaries are funny things. You get to think back on the amount of time you have spent with one person, reflect on accomplishments and for me hope that my dear sweet spouse will put up with me for another twenty-eight years, let alone, eternity.  So I was able to think back on the last twenty-eight years, which now seem like a blur, but there is a great sense of satisfaction in the four wonderful kids mom and I have been privileged to call our own. You all are so great. More than anything your goals and the way you are living your lives is awe inspiring.

We had a fun experience in the temple on Friday, the day we celebrated our anniversary. We actually were substitutes for another couple. Tuesday night is our regular night so we didn't know anybody when we got to the temple. How it usually works is that we get to sit by each other in prayer meeting and then we go off and do our assignments and see each other after the shift ends. What was fun about Friday is that my assignment was to lead the 7:15PM session which had two brides and one missionary. The session was so full that we had to split it. What was so fun is that when I arrived for the session, guess who was the lead for the women? Yup, mom was. It is almost impossible to coordinate couples serving side by side in the temple so it was one of Heavenly Father's tender mercies to allow us to serve side by side on the eve of our anniversary. It was so fun to spend the time in the session and reflect back on the years.

Twenty-eight years ago I was at my house in Idaho Falls and Teresa was running around Pocatello trying to get ready. I could not have imagined that time would fly by so fast and twenty-eight years years later we would have all of our children in college, including two in grad school who also served missions, two lovely and inspiring daughters, two wonderful daughters in law, two precious granddaughters, all our kids active in the church and making a difference in this world.

One more sweet experience. I was hurrying to my assignment in the temple on Friday and I went through the doors to head up the stairs. I noticed one other person walking up the stairs and I was immediately hit with a strong sense of deja vu. It reminded me of a dream I had as a teenager about and angel looking down at me from a stairwell. I don't remember much about the dream, nor what the angel looked like but when I looked up the stairs at the temple on Friday and saw that the person there was your mother, the deja vu was overwhelming almost eerie but in a special way.

Anyway, I want you all to know how much I love your mother. She is an angel and I know I am spoiled and I don't deserve her, but thank goodness for the principle of agency and she chose me of her own free will and choice. I often ask myself why she did that but since she is mine I really don't need an answer do I. -Dad