I told Neal on his birthday that I'd never dated and old man. He got a chuckle out of that. I'm not far behind, so easy for me to make that comment and not hurt his feelings. We had a fun birthday celebration. We went to our 'go to' place to eat. Market Street Grill. I had called the night before and made reservations. We got there at 5:00 and had a delicious and expensive dinner for two. We didn't hurry and stayed for a couple hours as there just wasn't any hurry to give up the table. I don't know how these restaurants are able to stay in business but I guess they squeak by with the help of takeout. I did notice lots of people coming in to get food and take it home and many more who had ordered ahead and were having their dinner brought out to their car.
I had the waiter take a couple pictures.
I read this quote from Howard W. Hunter and thought it was perfect.
"Earn the respect and confidence of your children through your loving relationship with them. A righteous father protects his children with his time and presence in their social, educational and spiritual activities and responsibilities. Tell your children you love them." I do hear Neal tell his kids all the time how much he loves them.
A couple things I remember about our dating that I always have to smile about. First is that Neal was always late! And I mean Late. There were a few times that I even called his house and the factory to find out where he was and if he was really coming. I'm talking two hours after the set time for his arrival. I even got shinned a couple times when he would call and tell me that he couldn't get away from the factory.
I also remember that on our second date we were playing scrabble and I old him that I would beat him and I did! It was the last word and I pulled off the win by going ahead 2 points. Yeah, such a good feeling.
Another funny and one never to be forgotten was that all of Annie's friends referred to Neal as Clark. I, thought sure they were comparing him to Clark Kent - Superman. Well, that wasn't the case. It wasn't long after we were married that I found out they referred to him as Clark Grizzwald!
But all funnies aside, Neal has some great qualities. He is always trying to be a better husband, father and grandfather (Pa). He faithfully prays and reads his scriptures every day. He sets an example for me and for his posterity when it comes to his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He always tries to be kind and forgiving. Our time together has certainly had some rough hills to climb, along with many discouraging situations and considerable challenges combining two families and parenting but we have done it for the past 30 years together for better or worse. All I can say is we have done the best we knew how. Our commitment to each other and our eternal marriage has added blessings beyond the struggles of every day life. Families take work and patience, love and forgiveness.
Happy 77 years to a great husband, father and grandfather!
No comments:
Post a Comment