Valentine's Day 2021- A Day of Happiness and Remembrance

 48 years ago today, I had known Joanne for a month having met in St. George, Utah where we were both attending Dixie College.  I can't recall what gift I gave her for Valentine's Day back then but I am quite sure it involved flowers and probably chocolates.  

To me, she was a shining light in the midst of a time of doubt and uncertainty in my life.  We loved spending lots of time together and she helped rescue my academic troubles with her patient help. She encouraged me to make a stronger commitment to my spiritual life, which I wisely did.  

The discovery I made about my relationship to God and that somehow He loved me despite my many flaws, changed the course of my life. That change of course led to me desiring to serve a mission. Shown below is a picture of Joanne and me outside the mission training center and church office building in Salt Lake City, Utah in September 1973 as I left to serve as a missionary in England for two years.

For Valentine's Day 1974, I sent her a gift of a heart-shaped Wedgewood piece.  By Valentine's Day 1975, I was serving in the Liverpool area and was thoroughly enjoying my missionary experience having been stretched, challenged and taught by the Lord in the preceding months.

After arriving home in September of 1975, Joanne and I were engaged to be married by Valentine's Day 1976 and were married on March 5th of the same year.  By Valentine's Day 1977, Joanne and I were parents of our first child, Alison having been born less that a week before.  Despite being poor college students attending Brigham Young University, I only remember how happy we were.

Many Valentine's Days have come and gone since those early years.  For over three decades I was often in New York City for the International Toy Fair on Valentine's Day.  Many times over the years, Joanne would come back to New York City and we would spend Valentine's Day together often catching the latest Broadway show.  At times we would have one of our wonderful five children come join us in New York over Valentine's Day.

Now 48 years later, Joanne and I are together as companions, 17 months into our mission serving in the Europe Area Office, and living in Frankfurt, Germany.  The picture above is the moment we opened our long-awaited mission calls sent by email, to serve together.  It has been wonderful spending this time together with Joanne in Europe, what an adventure it has been with the worldwide pandemic in the background.

Valentine's Day 2020, Joanne and I were not together.  I had been assigned to escort a young missionary home to the United States from Germany who needed urgent medical attention on February 11th. I had planned on returning to Germany in time for Valentine's Day, but that was not to be.

As I have outlined in a previous blog post, unknown to me at the time, God had other plans before I returned to Germany.  My sweet mother was in the hospital in St. George for what we thought was routine care.  She was in the best health she had enjoyed for years it seemed.  What I didn't know was that Mom was praying that I would come to St. George to be with her.  Through a miraculous series of events that truly manifested God's love for my mother and me, I was by her beside in the hospital on Valentine's Day, when she went home to God that gave her life.  She was reunited with her loving family and her husband Duane that adored her.  As she gently and peacefully took her last mortal breath, I was granted the privilege of being there with her.  Thanks be to God for that blessing.

This picture was taken in late August of 2019 on our way to the MTC in Provo, Utah before we formally began our mission.  A tender, emotional embrace.

Due to the pandemic travel restrictions, the only people who could attend Mom's internment in 

St. George were her dear friends, John and Susan Gordon.

You see for me, Valentine's Day is all about love and connection. This day has sweet, warm and tender memories.  Today, on Valentine's Day 2021, it is a Sunday and my sweetheart and I were able to spend it together worshipping God and renewing our sacred baptismal covenants as we sat in our Frankfurt apartment and attended church over video conferencing in the midst of this pandemic.

I love my Valentine with all my heart.