4th Day of Love

Glen, Palos Verdes, California, 1974

Laurel, Deck of Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, 1974

I love Glen because he loves to share with me. I don't believe he truly enjoys an experience until he can share it with me. If he travels without me, he begins to plan how he can take me there some day. After 9/11, he was so sad that he could never take me to the top of the Twin Towers. When we did make it to New York City in Dec. 0f 2001, this was his lament. It doesn't have to be big things that he is compelled to share. In the early morn, he might come inside, take me by the hand, and lead me outside to see a plant that finally bloomed or a lizard doing push ups on a sunny wall. I think that is why we spend so much time together. He needs to share with me.

It was after Christmas 1974 that we first met each other's immediate family. He couldn't wait to take this "desert rat" to see his ocean and beach. He wanted to share his past life and the things that he loved. He had come to Arizona not only to fetch me but to watch BYU play Oklahoma in a bowl game (it became the Fiesta Bowl, but was then called something else which I can't remember) and to meet my family. My mom threw an engagement party complete with homemade doughnuts, BYU lost the game, and I introduced the "beach boy" to the desert. The night we left for California, I cried and cried until the other side of Buckeye when I finally fell asleep. I think I was mourning my relationship with my family which was now going to be altered as I married and "grew up." Glen was more than patient with me. Once in California, Grandpa J greeted me with a giant bear hug. It was not until later that I learned how out of character that was for him, and I felt honored.

Glen at Canyon Lake in Arizona, 1974

Last night we went on a little date to Barnes & Noble. We don't stay connected at the hip in bookstores. I headed for the children's section and then biographies. Glen disappeared into the self-help books including positive thinking. We soon reconnected and checked out. Before the night was over, Glen was sharing excerpts from a book about things to experience or think about before you die and I was reading him delightful passages from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." We were very happy!