2020 - Our Wedding Day - 1 Dec 1977

 1 December 1977

Mr. Kerry and I have regaled all day as we celebrate our 43rd anniversary. We have recounted the special moments of the day - when all of us who were camping out at my parents' apartment woke up early to go up the hill to the Washington Temple. Even Kerry slept on a cot, for he didn't want to miss this day!

His family had driven out from Utah and were staying in a camper and hotel nearby, and his grandparents had flown in a day or so before.

Everyone was in a flurry - except us. We were like the eye in the middle of a hurricane.

My mom had dreamed of this day, for I was her youngest daughter and was getting married in the Washington Temple. They had been serving there for several months, and I had joined them months later.

But, Mom had suffered a heart attack in August on the day Elvis Presley died. It wasn't because he had died. It just happened to be on the same day.

Just after 10:00 am, Kerry and looked into each other's eyes, joined our hands, and were married for time and all eternity.

Mom had to go back to the apartment after a few pictures were taken, but she had been there to see us married. They really, really liked Kerry, and were so happy to see him join our family. They tolerated me.

Kerry's parents hosted a wedding breakfast at the 14th Street Marriott, and we joined other people at a small reception at my parents' apartment. The next day we would leave for Ohio for a larger reception. Mom and Dad weren't able to make the trip for that.

So, our married life began. It has endured. It will endure.

Not too long after our wedding, I was working in the temple when I saw a woman pushing what appeared to be her husband in a wheelchair. They were positively beaming at each other! The adoration they had for each other was so apparent.

I had an opportunity to talk with her a bit later, and said to her, "Tell me your story."

They had been married for 36 years. After only one month of marriage, something had happened to her husband. I honestly can't recall if it was an illness, or an accident, or even a mosquito bite (I might be getting the mosquito bite mixed up with someone else.) But, it rendered him paralyzed from the waist down. He would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

However, his mind was not affected, for he worked for NASA in the engineering division in Washington, DC.

Only one child would come from their marriage. He was born approximately nine months afterward. There would never be another opportunity for any more children, for the physical side of their union was now over.

Yet, they adored each other. Some may say that she didn't sign up for that. Her answer was, "Well, yes I did."

I wanted my marriage to be like that.

I have had wonderful examples of good marriages in my life - and I've also seen some that left me determined I would never treat someone I love in that manner.

So, Mr. Kerry love and remember and sanction and appreciate and cherish this day when we commemorate our married life beginning. Of special import is the man who married us. Edward E. Drury was Kerry's Mission President. Our "boss" at the temple. And, the man who married us.

Kerry wasn't my first love. But, he will always be my last.

#HappyAnniversarytoUs

2019 - Gratitude Month #30 - Mr. Kerry

Gratitude Day #30

Today I am grateful for Mr. Kerry.

For the past eight or so years, I have always begun the month with my mom, for it is her birthday. And, I end the month with Kerry, for tomorrow is our anniversary. And yet, I often will receive a PM asking me why I haven't expressed gratitude for Mr. Kerry.

This is why.

Kerry is a good man. When we began dating, I wasn't exactly thrilled with him. He greased his hair down like Bowser (Sha-na-na), and seemed stuck in the 1970s. Well, it was the 1970s.

But, my parents adored him!

After his proposal, I hemmed and hawed for a week when my dad asked me if I was planning on giving this poor boy an answer soon. I waffled, for I didn't know. I mean, he was a nice guy, but that *spark* wasn't there. Dad looked at me and said, "You had better do some deep thinking about this, Peggy. How many people would be willing to live with you?"

Truer words were never spoken.

Kerry's pros far outweighed his cons, and after deep prayer, I decided to say yes. I told him after working at the Washington Temple one day, and he nearly drove off the edge of the road.

If I had not married him, it would have been the single biggest mistake of my life. And, I know that.

He married me when I was heavy, and continued to love me as I nearly doubled in size, never once saying that it might be better "if I just lost a little weight".

He sat by me and wiped my brow through every labor and delivery, and cried at the four miscarriages that we both suffered through.

He was by my head when I woke up from surgery, softly telling me they had found cancer. He held my hand when the doctor came in to tell us more details.

We held each other tightly when we buried my mom in 1984, then again when we buried his sister in 2000, my dad in 2002, his mother in 2003, and his father in 2004. We held each other like the world was coming to an end when we lost our son in 2009. It had come to an end...at least, the world we knew.

He supported his family working as a letter carrier for thirty years, showing his children by example that they would always have a place to live, clothes to wear, and food to eat.

Just like his father, he is a scriptorian. He has never once preached that we should all follow his example of prayer and scripture study. He has quietly found a nook to study and ponder. Throughout these 42 years, I have often walked by his office as he is deep in study, or have caught him kneeling and praying. I wish that his children could hear those prayers as he names each one, petitioning God to watch out for them and keep them safe.

Kerry is the best man I have ever known. He married a very unsure girl, seeing potential in me that I couldn't/didn't see. He has supported me every step of the way, and believed there is nothing I can't do, even though there are things I just cannot do.

As we reflect on our upcoming anniversary tomorrow, we will pause and recall our lives through the past 42 years of our lives. We are good to each other. We are good for each other.

And, I wouldn't be who I am without him.

And so, I end my month of gratitude postings, knowing I could go on posting every day until the end of my life and never come close to running out of things to be thankful for. If I were to die this night, I hope that I would be remembered for having a grateful heart.

May I never lose site of what I have been blessed with...even the air that I breathe.

I thank you for reading my posts; some are personal, some are preachy, some are tiny posts that all show gratitude for each and every part of my life. I thank you for your comments. I thank you for the PMs.

May you all look for ways to be grateful, too.

Gratitude Day #30 - Mr. Kerry and Marriage

Gratitude Day #30

You know that I'm saving the best for last.

Today I am grateful beyond words for Mr. Kerry. And, the reason I save him for last is because tomorrow is our 41st wedding anniversary.

Yay for us -- 41 years!!!

I didn't much like Kerry when we first met and began dating. He was alright; but I was just sure that each date would be our last. There had to be something better.

My parents had moved to Kensington, MD to begin working in the Washington DC Temple in 1976. Kerry had begun working there when it was first built, and had seen it under construction during his mission in the area 1971-1973.

In early 1977 I was invited to come and work there, too. I moved there April 14.

I began working at the Temple April 15.

I met Kerry April 16.

There was a full working cafeteria in the basement, and I hadn't had a chance to hem up my long white dress. I walked past his table, and fell flat on my face.

He found where I lived after about two weeks, and asked me out. That date was okay, but nothing to swoon over. Then, he asked again...and again...and again...

One night in June, we were at my parents' watching "Rich Man Poor Man", and he just kept hanging around. We both had to be at work early the next morning, and he needed to go home. I sat there holding one eye open, letting the other eye sleep for awhile. Then, I would switch.

I finally got up and went into the bathroom. When I came back, he was kneeling by the couch praying. When he finished, I walked into the room.

He hemmed and hawed.

Then, he asked me to be his wife.

I had to hold my face together, and said I would have to think about it.

A week went by. Finally, my dad asked me if I had given him an answer yet. No.

He asked how long I was going to make him wait. I don't know.

He said, "Peggy, you need to think long and hard about this. He's a fine boy. And, how many people do you think would be willing to live with YOU?"

Oh, alright.

I thought about it. I weighed the pros and cons. I decided on yes, and it felt right.

But, I didn't love him.

The planning began, and as we got closer to the date of December 1, I realized that he really was a good man, and had come from a really good family. And, I needed to realize that perhaps my parents had seen something in him that I hadn't seen.

We married on a drizzly December day, and it was the best decision I have ever made in my life -- the right person at the right time in the right place.

Kerry is the best person I have ever met and known in my entire life. We are smitten with each other -- even after 41 years. When we've been apart even for a little while, it's like we've been apart for months.

When I was younger, I didn't have enough sense to:

1. Look for a man who would change diapers right along beside me.

2. Be up past midnight helping me finish up cleaning and canning a bushel of pears or apricots.

3. Continually bring his family together for family prayer, and pack the family up to bring us to church; sitting with us and singing at the top of his lungs.

4. Look for a man who loved God more than he loved me.

Kerry is the type of person who is good when no one is looking; pure integrity.

Recently, he was sitting beside me watching "The Wizard of Oz" twice in the same night from beginning to end. We all know what happens at the end of that movie when Dorothy is proclaiming, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

Kerry's tears are falling down his face and falling on to his shirt. He's also laughing at the same time.

That night, a FB friend chided me for posting that. Trust me...Kerry's name is perfectly safe with me. It's a tender part of his persona that we giggle at. And, he doesn't mind he knows it.

You will never, ever hear me say anything bad about him. I weary of both men and women who gripe and complain about their spouse. Sorry...it doesn't make them look bad. It makes you look like you didn't have enough sense to choose someone better. If Kerry and I have something to discuss and deal with, there are only two people who will know about it. Us.

I hear his prayers as he petitions the Lord for the safety and protection of his children, and for us.

I hear him pour out his gratitude in prayer for the blessings we both have been given.

And, I rejoice when he picks me up from the airport and embraces me in his big wingspan.

This man is a good, good man...the best person that has ever been in my life. If I had not married him, it would have been the single biggest mistake of my life.

I will always be grateful that the Lord allowed our paths to cross...a young man from CA who moved to UT, and met a girl from OH in DC. It was meant to happen.

And, I know that.

So, this finishes off another month of gratitude posts for Miss Peggy, though I could post one every single day the rest of my life and never be finished.

My heart is filled with gratitude at all times, in all things, and in all places.