28 Years

Tomorrow Kevin and I will have been married 28 years. I guess that is quite an accomplishment. I mean that is what I believe but I don't necessarily understand.

I don't have a clue where those 28 years have gone. I remember the first time we met and I remember yesterday. All the rest is a hodge podge of memories, emotions, events, dates and anything else along those lines. I don't want to say good times and bad times; first, because that is so trite and expected and second, nothing is just one way-all good or all bad. It just is.

The year was 1982. I was 20 years old, (an old maid in those days and in the culture in which I was living. Really, I had people asking me why I wasn't married. So dumb on so many levels. Put that question in the "Are you pregnant?" category. NEVER ask.) I was leaving home for the 2nd and last time, and moved to Provo with a friend. We'd worked together at Huntsman's Grocery Store in Shelley Idaho, and we were ready to leave that tiny town.

It's a bit odd that I chose to move when I did. You see, I had a boy I was absolutely certain I was going to marry who was just about to return from his mission. Yet I felt a strong pull, even urgency, to go ahead and leave town. It didn't make sense. There's no doubt in my mind that we would have dated when he came home... actually we did a lil bit, but I was, you know, living 250 miles away. I do not know that we would've married. And that makes not one bit of difference anyway. The only reason I bring it up is to explain the unexpected (to me) way that I came to be where I did-in Provo, UT.

Yeah. That last sentence is confusing. deal.

This was my plan. Get a job and go to BYU. Accomplishing one was a long process and one didn't happen at all. It took a while to get a job, but I finally landed a job in the prestigious Data Entry field. So glam.

This is where I turn, or return, to my story about Kevin and I's first meeting. The moment that changed our lives forever happened quite soon after I'd moved. I didn't have a job let alone any way of going to BYU at that point.

In the Apartment Complex where we both lived there were frequent dances by the pool. I was pretty shy and didn't really like going to things without a group of friends, (surprise everybody!), and that night I really had no one to go with because I took one of my roommates to the Airport and didn't get home until about 11:30 p.m.. The pool area was pretty packed and I wandered over just to see if I knew anyone there. (Which was a slim chance, since I only knew a couple of girls at that point.)

I saw a couple of guys who looked familiar, (I soon found out why they looked familiar, we were in the same Ward.) Much to my surprise, one of the two asked me to dance. And it wasn't Kevin. bahahaha. gotcha. I have no clue what the other guy's name was now. I do remember thinking he smelled like beer. Not that I have any idea how I'd know a thing about that. Not me. No way.

These weekend pool dances had to end at 12 pm-must've been some Apartment rule, so I didn't do too much dancing. Also only one guy asked. That makes one dance. I sound like a real attractive party girl,
don't I?

After the dance though, that is when Kevin and I began talking. That is what I remember most about that time. From the moment we first knew each other we could talk for HOURS. And we did. Plus other stuff that would gross my kids out even though that is a double standard you guys. I get it though. I want to think about my parents in that way EVER.

From our first meeting we were basically together and here we are all these years later. It's not like we got engaged right away and we did break up a few times, the longest period of separation being 2 days.
We postponed our wedding from our original date in December 1982 to April 29, 1983. Basically 1 year after that dance by the pool.

Was it Fate? Was I SUPPOSED to move to PROVO? You see, I don't believe that there is just ONE person with whom one might make a great life together but I am forever grateful that I met the ONE I did. He was and is my best friend.

28 years makes for a lot of stories but that is all for now. Happy Anniversary to Us.