The first time I remember meeting Wade was in elementary school in Mrs. Ashleman's class first grade class at Lincoln Elementary. She repeatedly emphasized to her class that we never, ever smoke (anything!). If we would promise to never smoke, she gave us a stick of gum. So, back to the story...in 1973, my family moved to Rexburg, Idaho for my dad to work at Ricks College. We lived close to campus, just a few blocks away from the DeMordaunts. We came from Bountiful, Utah where I had finished Kindergarten with flying colors after learning about how pupils dilate (it was in a very cool class experiment), which turned out to be important in understanding the work of my future spouse.
Wade also sat in front of me in Miss Hammond's 2nd grade class. This is quite vague in my memory, but he remembers details like this from his youth very clearly. In February that school year, my family moved out to Sugar City (Salem, to be precise). The class was writing farewell notes to me, and I was feeling nervous-- Wade even remembers something I said that day about having butterflies in my stomach.
Fast forward to high school and the era of being seen at other schools periodically, usually when I was there for track meets. I remember seeing Wade intermittently, but most specifically at State Youth Legislature in Boise where Wade was a Court Justice. He sat on the bench as a judge! We have a group that was photo taken on the steps at the state capitol building that I hope I can find.
Suddenly 3 years passed and it was 1989. I had graduated from Ricks College, attended 1 year at BYU and was home for the summer, working as a tour guide at the Admissions Office. I had very big, blonde hair! Wade had attended BYU for 1 year, returned from a mission to Madrid, Spain and was home taking classes at Ricks College for the summer. He was starting to lose his hair, and looked very young and lean with sparkly eyes, and was very handsome. We both started going to a student summer ward that met in the Kirkham Auditorium/building. I bore my testimony one Fast Sunday, then Wade gave a talk another time. He was asked to speak at the last minute, since another speaker fell through. I think he talked about his mission. Anyway, it was funny that it was so easy to recognize him, and other kids that I went to elementary school with in Rexburg, after so many years. We were all just the (almost) grown up versions of ourselves. Right now you may be wondering..."Are they ever going to meet/talk?" Well, yes.
Our ward was having an outdoor fireside at Smith Park one Sunday evening. The speaker was a former seminary teacher from Madison High School, Bro. Parker. Wade was asked by a friend to go help give a girl a blessing that afternoon, so he was all dressed up, and the friend (was it Martin Searcy?) asked if he was attending the fireside. He wasn't until then, and I can't remember if he came with a friend or not. My sister, Carol, was going with a date, so I drove over with Camille Keller, a friend of Carol's from Sugar City.
After the talk, Wade intercepted me as I was on my way to get some refreshments. He said something like, "Hey, aren't you Amy?" I responded with something like, "Yeah, and you're Wade." Then we probably commented that we had seen the other speak/bear testimony in church, etc. Then up in the gazebo where the food was, Wade intercepted me once again and asked if I would like to go out sometime. I cheerily responded, " Sounds great!" or something similarly encouraging.
Some time later Wade called to ask me on a date. He had in mind that I enjoyed physical activities, so planned a bike ride. We chose a route out and about Salem, then back to Sugar City. We then went to his house where I met his Dad before we went to a movie (Peter Pan, Disney version), which was a blast. We went back to his home for dessert (ice cream, perhaps?) and I met more of his family. Later when he took me home and he walked me to the door, he held out his hand as he thanked me for the date. Realizing he was still "hot off the grill" from his mission, I gave him a hug instead of the handshake. Apparently he walked away thrilled with the date. I thought it was completely enjoyable despite my coughing fit in the truck on the way back to his house after the outdoor bike ride. It was certainly allergy related. I just kept coughing until my eyes were all watery and I appeared to be crying. It made conversation awkward, but I got better and the date continued without a hitch. It ranks as one of the best dates in history.
Altogether meeting Wade in college and that first date was the beginning of a dream come true. I am so glad I was home that summer and went to the student ward that I did. It was a blessing for me to start that friendship with Wade, though it took almost a year to blossom into something more. But that is a story for another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment