2nd Day of Love

Glen, Provo Canyon, Fall 1974

I love Glen because he has always anticipated things I might need and serves me without being asked. My first memory of these little acts of kindness occurred while we were first dating in the Fall of 1974. I worked for Special Courses and Conferences (at that time just south of the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU, now in the newer building with the mirrored wall reflecting the mountains) as a registration secretary during the late afternoon and early evening. Those many years ago, all registration was by mail or in person. I manned the in-person counter until after dark. I had recently moved from the trailer park on the west side of Provo and into the basement of a home on the hill above the temple (this is what happens when you delay your decision to return to BYU and don't secure housing, especially in those very crowded Provo days, so I spent the first half of the semester sharing a bed with a night shift nurse and the second half sleeping on the floor.) If I missed my ride, it was a long, lonely walk home. Just before closing time, handsome Glen would come striding down the hall to my window. "I was just in the area and thought I should offer you a ride home." Wow, here was someone who was thinking of me and anticipating my needs. It felt really nice and it was a whole lot warmer.

Laurel, Provo Canyon, Later Fall 1974

Now, lest you think I am nominating him for sainthood, let me explain this picture. Those three children are not any of you. They belong to Laura, a woman Farrell helped baptize in Mexico City. She had moved to Provo after divorcing her husband as a result of joining the church. She had been an American studying voice in Mexico and later sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and at my father's funeral. ("Somewhere My Love" from Dr. Zhivago, the movie, was the song she sang. Listen to the lyrics carefully sometime and think about this being my mom's special song as she cared for an ailing husband.) Some of Glen's and my first dates were spent in service babysitting her children. As Glen became more serious about our relationship, he took and then sent this photo home to his mother in a letter which explained that he had forgotten to tell her one last thing about me, "Laurel is a single mom with three children."

I have not always loved his practical jokes!