My Parents' Anniversary

About a month ago I was thinking about doing a tribute to my parents for their 45th wedding anniversary which is today. I wrote out some things about each one of them that I wanted to share with all of you. Now, with the passing of my father, this tribute will be more heart wrenching than I had meant it to be. I hope that it is still appropriate and will make you smile.

Dad
He was born in a house where the clinic now is in Castle Dale (both of my parents were born at home)
He used to be called Monty when he was younger
He was a very adventurous little boy and was pretty much set free every day to do what he pleased. He had a million stories about swimming in the canal, making rafts, going up to the sheep camp with his dad, working on the farm, etc.
He always looked out for the “underdog”. When he rode the bus to school in Ferron, there was one boy who got on the bus and no one would let him sit by them. My dad always scooted over to let him sit down.
He always picked up hitchhikers and helped people around town
He was student body president in high school. He came into the school one day and some girls had made election posters for him and had put them up around the school. I guess that was when he decided he was running for president!
He participated in every sport in school and was especially good at track and field and basketball
When he graduated from high school, many of the other students wanted to get out of Emery County, but he always wanted to be able to live here and run the farm.
The farm was one of his favorite places to be. He loved being there, growing things, irrigating the fields. He loved everything about our farm.
When he decided to go to BYU he hitchhiked up to Provo the week before school started, signed up for classes and found a place to live in one day!

Many people might think of him as a serious guy but he loved to laugh and was quick with a smile
He kept a daily journal and wrote several books even though he said he wasn’t a very good writer when he was young.
He was a wonderful dancer. Some of my fondest memories are of him teaching me how to dance on the hardwood floor in our house.
He truly loved his children and always encouraged us to do our best in whatever we were doing.

Mom (picture above is her participating in the Miss Ricks pageant, she is third from the right in the white satin dress)
She loves old movies like Casablanca
She is a wonderful listener and never judges you about anything
She likes Chinese food
Her favorite color is blue
She loves flowers and puts a different arrangement on her filing cabinet every few days
Her two favorite stress relievers are cooking and playing the piano
She is one of the few people who knows almost everything about me and she doesn’t hold it against me!
She is a great seamstress but refuses to help you make something that you think you can make without a pattern
She used to be called Kathy but is usually called Kathryn
When you try to tell her how to do something, she says, “I was ___________ before you were even born!” i.e.: “I was driving before you were even born!”
I have never heard her raise her voice at anyone (I’ve already blown that one with my kids!)
She secretly likes dark chocolate and keeps a stash of it
She likes to collect quotes and poems
She read to us a lot when we were little and used to read books to all of us like “Where the Red Fern Grows”
She remembers detailed things like everyone’s phone number and who’s related to whom. (It’ a little scary that she can tell you how closely related you are to your prom date…)
When she was little, she had the cutest way of cocking her head to the side in pictures (see photo below)
She has an endless capacity to sing you to sleep at night
She is the best mom you could ever hope to have and we love her!

My parents met at a dance at BYU in January of 1963 and were married in the Idaho Falls Temple August 27, 1963. They had 7 children, 6 girls and 1 boy. They have been wonderful parents and I love them with all my heart!