The best day of my life

What is the best day of your life so far?  The best day of my life was August 14, 1974.  That was the day Grandma and I got married.  I only remember bits and pieces of that day.  I remember arriving at the Oakland Temple in the morning.  I remember that we went through an endowment session where Kathy received her own endowment and then we went into a sealing room where we were married and sealed together for time and all eternity.  I don't remember the name of the man who performed the sealing and I don't remember a single word that he said.  I remember that we had an open house at my parent's home in Fremont, CA, that night and that we stayed in the Honeymoon Suite in a hotel in South San Francisco.

If I remember so little about that day, why do I consider it the best day of my life?  It's because it was the beginning of a wonderful adventure with the love of my life.  Before I got married, everything was about me, myself and I.  After I got married it was about us, ourselves, and we.  I now had a partner in everything I did.  When I was worried, I had Kathy to comfort and assure me.  When I was sick, I had Kathy to nurse me.  When I was scared, I had Kathy to help me be brave.  When I needed to make a decision, I had Kathy to help me consider all of the possibilities and give me sound advice.  Each time we loaded up our stuff and moved to a new place, we didn't have to go alone.  We had each other for support.

You can mark the progress of our life together by considering what we needed to use to move all of our stuff.  When we moved into our first apartment in Provo, we only needed the smallest U Haul trailer available.  When we left Provo and moved to San Francisco four years later, we needed the largest trailer available (I remember how much work it was for our car to pull it up over Donner Summit).  When we left San Francisco for Iowa four years later, we needed to rent a medium-sized U Haul truck.  When we left Iowa for Kentucky three years later, we needed the biggest truck available.  When we left Kentucky for Orem 13 years later we needed 2 of the largest trucks available, each with a trailer in tow for carrying our cars.  Each of these phases of our lives required us to meet new friends, learn new routines, and step out of our zones of comfort.  The fact that we could do this together made it all bearable.  No matter what the situation, we had each other for support.  I can't think of a better partner in all this than my Kathy.

Then there was the parenting.  First came Ben and all of the new stuff about being a parent.  Then came Joe and all of the stuff about caring for 2 babies at the same time.  With two children, we could each take care of one.  But when Sarah came, we had to figure out how two people could take care of three children.  Then with Betsy, we had to learn how to take care of 4 little ones.  And don't forget the many times when Kathy had to care for all four by herself.  When Hannah came, that made 5 at once.  The addition of Abby made six.  By then some of the older ones could take care of themselves (with help from Sarah) and we functioned pretty well as a family team.  Finally, we got Caleb and our family was complete. 

Through those years, Kathy and I worked together as partners.  I was in school during the first few years and worked part-time to make ends meet.  Kathy worked full-time until she had Ben.  When we moved to San Francisco, Kathy started to work part-time as a nurse and I got paid to be a Research Assistant.  In Iowa, I got paid as a Postdoc and Kathy worked part-time as a nurse.  In Kentucky, I got paid as an Assistant Professor and Kathy worked part-time as a nurse.  In Orem, I got paid as an Associate Professor and Kathy worked part-time as a nurse.

I can't think of a better, fuller, happier life than mine.  Getting married and raising a family may seem scary and a lot of work, but there is nothing on earth more worth it.  I know you grand kids are still young, and marriage is a long way off.  But I hope you will set a goal to someday marry in the temple and raise a family of your own.  It will be well worth it.