33 Years and counting with my Best Friend

I have a Best Friend (BF) . I met him 35 years ago in March at the Student Branch located in the Institute building . He came up to me once before and asked a question. I was serving as the Sunday School secretary, and was busily typing a list. Everyone had been asking me about this list, and I was blowing them off with a quick answer that it would be posted in a minute. He was one of these, and still teases me that I blew him off the first time he spoke to me. Heck, I was blowing everyone off that day.
The next time I met him, he asked if anyone was sitting beside me. I told him, "you are". We introduced ourselves and I was thinking what a beautiful HUNK of a man he was. We sat together and talked many times after that, and one day my little sister, ZB and I were talking about the cute guys in Church. We mentioned HUNK, and my sis said "he has a girlfriend." I couldn't believe this. We had talked together after church many times and I didn't connect this other girl with him. We were actually driving past the Institute building where the Branch meets, and there, as if to confirm things were this guy and that girl holding hands, walking in front of the Institute building. I was devastated. From then on, I watched, and sure enough, they did seem to be better friends than I gave them credit for. But as soon as Church was over, she would leave, and he would make a bee line over to me. I learned they both were investigating the Church, but she was doing it for him. He was the one really interested, she wasn't as much. He told me later that he liked me because I had a testimony of the Church, plus he thought I was cute.
Anyway, we talked. We talked every week, and sometimes on the phone. We were becoming Best Friends through these conversations. I remember one night, when BF and I were talking outside near the cars with his roommate, Paco. Paco was telling us of a new movie he had seen, The Godfather. He was describing a particularly gruesome scene of a horses head being found in a bed. It was a bit chilly, and I shivered, so BF put his arm around me. I remember hoping Paco would just keep talking all night about this terrible movie, so this cute guy would keep his arm around me.
Towards summer, it became obvious that we were becoming closer, and he finally told Marcie that it was over. I learned that Marcie and BF had been together since he was 16. They had met at a Lutheran Church camp. She was devastated, of course. And it seemed that the whole congregation of the Student Branch took sides. The ones who had known BF longer took his side, and the same for poor little Marcie. Needless to say, her interest in the Church faded, as did she.
We continued to talk. I cannot say that we ever went on any official date, we just walked or drove and talked. I cannot say how many miles we put on, but we had so much to talk about. Then one day it happened. I had told him a stupid joke: q. How do you spot a happy motorcyclist? a. By the bugs on his teeth.
We had walked up near the base of the mountain, by the Flat Irons, and I stood on a rock, so I could be closer to his height but was still looking skyward to see his eyes. It was raining. He kissed me. After this, I said, "How do you spot a happy girl?. . .by the raindrops on her teeth."
Our first kiss. In the rain. It was funny because rain became a theme of our lives. Here in the west, rain is not common enough to grow tired of it. In fact, with my children, I taught them to dance in the rain. I taught them to love the lightning and thunder storms, and dance in the rain.
Rain happened with every major event in our lives. Every move (I have ruined cook books and photo albums to attest to this), every birth, our wedding reception, our children's major events. It rains, and I believe it is God's blessing, telling us we did the right thing.
Anyway the friendship continued from then. By July, he and I were thinking seriously about marriage. One day in the office, when I had nothing to do, I was doodling and I wrote on a piece of paper: "Dearest Dave, There is nothing more I would rather do than spend eternity with you." It had many flowers, vines, and leaves in the shape of a heart surrounding the saying. It was still in the car that evening when we were talking, and I asked him what he was thinking. He said he was thinking about what it would be like to be married to me. :D
I said, "hold that thought," and I hurried outside to the car and brought this note back inside. Because of all the detailed vines and hearts, it was obvious that I had not just run outside and quickly printed this.
That little note is in our wedding album.
In September two former boyfriends came around, both proposing marriage. The first one who came, with BF's permission, made me realize I could NEVER be with when I saw him. The second guy, never really proposed, he took me on a drive to Wild Basin, my favorite hiking spot in the mountains. He put his arm around me, and we walked. The whole time, in my mind, I was comparing him to BF, and BF was the winner in all categories.
Finally, SG said, "there is someone else, isn't there?" I confirmed this and he asked about him. I told him about this new Best Friend, and SG congratulated me. He gave me a hug. We walked back to the car, and started back home. On the way down the mountain, he stopped the car, we got out and stood on a rock, and he hugged me once more, long and hard. Later when my mom went to his wedding reception, his bride expressed she was happy to meet the mother of the girl he had almost married! We had no idea.
By the next June, BF was able to get baptized into the Church. We went ring shopping two days later. Because newly baptized people have to wait a year to go through the temple, we decided to wait, rather than start our life together early without a temple marriage. So exactly a year to the date of his baptism we were married in the Manti Temple. Our lives have been filled with wonderful adventures, happiness, and six children. I feel blessed every day when I kiss him goodbye as he leaves for work, and every evening when he comes home. And I think of him all day. I am so glad I have had so many years with this sweet man, my Best Friend.
Happy Anniversary, Best Friend.