My Wife

Let me tell you about my wife.  Her name is Karen.  When I first met her she was just a girl of 20, the most beautiful redhead I had ever met.  We were in a ballroom dance class at BYU.  There must have been 24 - 30 people in the class, half boys and half girls.  She was the best looking girl in the class and I just didn't have the nerve to ask her out.  We would dance together every class at least once, and sometimes more often.  It was only an 8 week class and towards the end of the class I thought I would never get the chance to go out on a date with her and I was still afraid she might say no.  So I told her that if she got a 9 or above on the next dance test that I would take her out.  Big prize, huh.  Well, she took the challenge seriously and got a 9 on the test.  She even kept the score sheet to show me.

Our first real date was to go see "Poltergeist".  That was just coming out then.  It was a great movie and she got so scared at a couple of parts she nearly jumped in my lap.  That was the beginning of a long relationship.  We've had a lot of ups and downs.  It seems like more downs than anything else.  But she has stuck with me, through thick and thin.  Sometimes I don't why.  

Where we really fell in love was the night we went to go see the musical, "Brigadoon" at Sundance Outdoor Theater at the Sundance Ski Resort in June 1982.  I've included a picture of us and our friends that we took that night.  And don't you know that both couples ended up getting married the next year!

Most of the time I see myself as the lucky one in the relationship.  I still have a long way to go to be her model of perfection, and I don't think I'll ever get that far, at last not in this life, but I can be much better than I am.  So to see how I do I'm going to try to tell a story about our early life together and then see what I can do better now.  Perhaps if I have people reading this, or at least if I post this online, I'll have more of a reason to challenge myself and keep myself on track.  If you have suggestions for me on how I can do better, let me know.

One Big Eternal Round - College Graduation

Twenty four years ago I graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT.  On April 24th my little girl, now 22, will graduate from BYU with a BA in Communications.  It's hard to believe it's been 4 years since she started college.  It wasn't that long ago we moved from Saratoga Springs, NY to Fairport, NY and she was just entering the 10th grade.  Time flies so fast when you get older. 

I think one of the things I miss the most from my college days were the friends I made.  While we aren't as close as we once were, we still like to get together whenever we can, which isn't very often anymore, since most of them are still in Utah and we live in New York.  At the same time, when we do get together it's almost like no time has passed at all.  I look forward to seeing them at our daughter's graduation party.

So to all the college graduates out there, here's to the class of 2009.  Good Luck.

The house I grew up in is for sale

After nearly 50 years, the house I grew up in, and where my parents raised 6 nearly normal children, is for sale.  Now that both of my parents have passed away we decided to sell the house.  It was what they wanted.  It was one of the few tangible things they could leave us.

My parents were very selfless.  They gave everything away.  My mother, Doris, was always giving gifts to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, neighbor kids, kids at church, and friends and family.  My father would invest his time and money to help other people which meant he had very little left for himself.

They weren't rich but they seemed like it.  But now it's the end of an era.  The homestead, the only house I had lived in as a kid, is finally up for sale.  Thanks to my sisters, Judy and Barb, the house is looking pretty good.  Yes, there is still a lot that can be done but we would rather have it sell quickly.  If you want to take a look at the house, click on the headline above.  Good bye house.

The Wonders of YouTube

Okay.  I'll admit it.  I'm hooked on YouTube.  I can't believe some of the stupid things you see on there.  One of my favorites is failblog.  I'm utterly fascinated by some of the really wierd stuff you see on there.  Once you go there you'll see why.  I'm including two of my favorites right here.

Enjoy.