The Love of My Life: Lovely Lynda!

This cutie-pie is my eternal companion, Lynda. I have often said that she is the most intelligent and talented person I have known (then Lynda always says, And beautiful and skinny!). Lynda had had a very full life by the time I met her. She grew up on a potato farm in eastern Idaho. When she was in high school, her father was called as a mission president to serve in Cali, Colombia. The whole family, two parents and five of the kids (Lynda was the oldest of them), picked up and moved to South America.

Lynda finished high school early (in Colombia) and enrolled at BYU a semester early. She was called on a mission at the age of 18 to serve in her father's mission, so off she went, back to South America for a year and a half.

When I met Lynda, I had been home from my mission in Washington, DC for about two months, and she hadn't been home much longer. We were both Resident Assistants in the Helaman Halls dormitories at BYU and had a great deal of contact. We became racquetball buddies, playing several hours each day - she would beat me soundly nearly every game back then.

One memorable time with Lynda near the beginning of our relationship came when I went to Idaho Falls with her for the first time to meet her parents. Lynda had just come off of an engagement that ended negatively, so I think she thought that her parents would not approve of a new boyfriend so quickly - as a result, she neglected to tell them I was coming. When we arrived at her home on East River Road I walked with her to the front door. Her mother met us there and proceeded to thank me for giving Lynda a ride home and nearly shut the door in my face. Needless to say, I was quite confused at these mixed signals. It was then that I learned that it was the man's responsibility to figure out what the woman was thinking. Despite this rocky start, the visit went as well as can be expected and we left to return to Utah with the idea that Lynda and I were officially an item firmly planted in their minds.

Lynda and I at Helaman Halls dormitories at Brigham Young University

We have gone through good times and bad, fat and lean. Over the years we have learned to rely more and more on each other. And, yes, I do believe that I have learned to read her mind every once in a while. She has followed me all over the world and has been a really good sport, participating in my grand adventure.

Lynda harvesting rice near our township, Umegaoka, Kanagawa Prefecture

Today we both have gained a few pounds, me more than she, and gray hairs are found in plenty (again me more than she). Our love grows stronger and stronger. No one ever mistakes me for her son anymore, and she struggles at times to retained her beautiful singing voice. Her diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis make things interesting at times (like this morning), but she remains active; probably more active than when I met her. She is still the most intelligent and talented person I have ever met, and I love her more than life itself. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that he allowed me to find her and make her my bride.