Our Story, Part 2: The Week Before Finals
Actually, I'll go back a bit farther. I lived in an apartment with six guys: Ben, Dave, Branton, Eero, Parry and myself. In the springtime of 1998, 4 of those 6 were married. Parry and I remained the lone men in the apartment. I had had a girlfriend, but we had broken up in February(?). Parry and I were great friends, but we never really hung out much, so with all of my other roommates (Ben mostly) off doing other things, I found myself hanging out a lot at Denise's apartment. I would go over to talk with Denise mostly. If she weren't there, I was really good friends with her other roommates, and it wasn't awkward for me to hang out with them, either. I remember that I was at Denise's apartment for the entire Conference Weekend in April. It was then that I realized exactly how much time I was spending with Denise.
Denise was a very safe person to be spending time with. She had put in her mission papers a few weeks earlier, and was expecting a call any day. Ben and I had taken it upon ourselves to set up a betting pool to determine where she was going to go. Because we set it up, we gave ourselves two guesses, one stateside guess, and one foreign guess. We both agreed that if she went stateside, that she would go to Temple Square - because that's where they send all the good-looking sisters. My foreign guess was Santiago Chile. I even had a dream in this period that Denise got her call to San Jose, Chile (which isn't a mission). At any rate, I knew Denise would be a great missionary, and was very excited for her to get her call.
About a week before finals started, Denise had to find a date for an "End of the Year Party" for American Fork Rec. They were having a nice sit-down dinner at Mulboons, and they had threatened to set her up with someone if she didn't get a date for herself. Denise had gone out with Ben a few times, but because he was engaged, she took me. I was happy to go, and had a really good time. I got a Salmon Salad, which was about three times as big as I could eat - but it was great.
That same week, I had tickets to the BYU Dance production that they have at the end of the year. It has a name, but I can't think of it right now. I had purchased the tickets at the beginning of the semester, when I had a girlfriend, but now I needed a date. Fortunately for me, Denise needed to go for a class she was taking, and the tickets were all sold out, so she went with me. Still later in the week, Denise scored an extra nosebleed ticket to see a Utah Jazz game (courtesy of American Fork Rec). That's the one and only Jazz game I've ever been to. The Jazz won.
Denise and I had gone out on a date once in the past (to see the movie "Hercules" in the theater), but essentially, these were our first dates. We went from nothing to three dates in a week.
People started to take notice. They would ask "What's going on between you and Denise?". Of course, they didn't realize that the three dates we had gone on were just pure coincidence - three perfet examples of needing to fill one extra seat, and finding someone at the last minute (not that anyone was complaining). But, not realizing this, it was natural for them to suspect something was up, and to ask questions. After all, this was a BYU singles ward.
It got to the point that two days before Finals started (Wednesday night?), my sister, Deborah asked me what was going on. I was a little tired of explaining to everyone that nothing was going on at all, but I explained one more time - "Nothing is going on. Denise has a mission call. She is going to go on a mission."
That night, Dave and Branton had a long discussion on purchasing rings. Ben and I listened in. Branton had worked some family connections to get rings wholesale, and would wholesale prices to any of his roommates. At the end of the discussion, Dave put a little pressure on me. He asked the now popular question "What's going on between you and Denise?" I gave him the standard answer "Nothing - she's going on a mission." He wouldn't let me get away with that. He pushed father - "Do you think something could happen?" I responded "Sure, I guess when she gets back." He insisted "If you think something could happen, you owe it to her to talk to her about it before she leaves." I told him that I wasn't going to bring it up because SHE WAS GOING ON A MISSION. He made me promise that I would talk to her if I thought something could happen between us. I promised, all the while thinking that my fulfillment of the promise would be me shaking her hand at the airport and saying "We'll see what happens when you get back." In my mind, that was going to take care of that.
What happened instead, was that I stayed up all night long thinking about Denise and I. Over and over again, I kept thinking how much fun we had, and how much fun we would have for the rest of our lives if we were to get married. I hadn't really thought about Denise in that way before that night, but I liked it. That night I determined that Denise was definitely someone that I could spend the rest of my life with.
Next Post: The Day Before Finals
Other memories from BYU:
- Denise tricks Ben into taking her out
Denise was a very safe person to be spending time with. She had put in her mission papers a few weeks earlier, and was expecting a call any day. Ben and I had taken it upon ourselves to set up a betting pool to determine where she was going to go. Because we set it up, we gave ourselves two guesses, one stateside guess, and one foreign guess. We both agreed that if she went stateside, that she would go to Temple Square - because that's where they send all the good-looking sisters. My foreign guess was Santiago Chile. I even had a dream in this period that Denise got her call to San Jose, Chile (which isn't a mission). At any rate, I knew Denise would be a great missionary, and was very excited for her to get her call.
About a week before finals started, Denise had to find a date for an "End of the Year Party" for American Fork Rec. They were having a nice sit-down dinner at Mulboons, and they had threatened to set her up with someone if she didn't get a date for herself. Denise had gone out with Ben a few times, but because he was engaged, she took me. I was happy to go, and had a really good time. I got a Salmon Salad, which was about three times as big as I could eat - but it was great.
That same week, I had tickets to the BYU Dance production that they have at the end of the year. It has a name, but I can't think of it right now. I had purchased the tickets at the beginning of the semester, when I had a girlfriend, but now I needed a date. Fortunately for me, Denise needed to go for a class she was taking, and the tickets were all sold out, so she went with me. Still later in the week, Denise scored an extra nosebleed ticket to see a Utah Jazz game (courtesy of American Fork Rec). That's the one and only Jazz game I've ever been to. The Jazz won.
Denise and I had gone out on a date once in the past (to see the movie "Hercules" in the theater), but essentially, these were our first dates. We went from nothing to three dates in a week.
People started to take notice. They would ask "What's going on between you and Denise?". Of course, they didn't realize that the three dates we had gone on were just pure coincidence - three perfet examples of needing to fill one extra seat, and finding someone at the last minute (not that anyone was complaining). But, not realizing this, it was natural for them to suspect something was up, and to ask questions. After all, this was a BYU singles ward.
It got to the point that two days before Finals started (Wednesday night?), my sister, Deborah asked me what was going on. I was a little tired of explaining to everyone that nothing was going on at all, but I explained one more time - "Nothing is going on. Denise has a mission call. She is going to go on a mission."
That night, Dave and Branton had a long discussion on purchasing rings. Ben and I listened in. Branton had worked some family connections to get rings wholesale, and would wholesale prices to any of his roommates. At the end of the discussion, Dave put a little pressure on me. He asked the now popular question "What's going on between you and Denise?" I gave him the standard answer "Nothing - she's going on a mission." He wouldn't let me get away with that. He pushed father - "Do you think something could happen?" I responded "Sure, I guess when she gets back." He insisted "If you think something could happen, you owe it to her to talk to her about it before she leaves." I told him that I wasn't going to bring it up because SHE WAS GOING ON A MISSION. He made me promise that I would talk to her if I thought something could happen between us. I promised, all the while thinking that my fulfillment of the promise would be me shaking her hand at the airport and saying "We'll see what happens when you get back." In my mind, that was going to take care of that.
What happened instead, was that I stayed up all night long thinking about Denise and I. Over and over again, I kept thinking how much fun we had, and how much fun we would have for the rest of our lives if we were to get married. I hadn't really thought about Denise in that way before that night, but I liked it. That night I determined that Denise was definitely someone that I could spend the rest of my life with.
Next Post: The Day Before Finals
Other memories from BYU:
- Denise tricks Ben into taking her out
posted by ronny at 21:10
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