December 17, 2015 - Thursday in Nauvoo

Decisions Do Determine Destiny!  I have felt a more urgent need to share some decisions that I have made over the last six decades that have helped me to understand more about who I am and who I can become.  I think that the decision to "ponderize" the various Scriptures has been a tremendous boost to our family.  Of course, we have a long way to go in making the Scriptures come alive in our everyday activities, and decisions, and especially for me.  But it has been uplifting to see how this process has benefitted many of our family members.

Sharing here in the blog about some favorite memories of my lifetime has also been a treasure for me, personally.  You see, at the time of the unfolding of these special memories, like those I sent to each of the grandchildren for Christmas, those memories have taken on a deeper meaning for me.  It is probably because of the wonderful feedback I have been getting from those precious grandchildren!  But you have to understand, as for the men in my life at that time, I did not have a father, and I only had one grandfather that took time with me and shared some feelings with me as a youth growing up.  I just want to take that to the next level for my children and grandchildren!

There is a special Christmas experience that involved my grandmother, whom I affectionately knew as "Nana", that I want to share tomorrow on my December 18th post.  That was her birthday in 1893, and what a very special lady she was to me and to my sister!  She passed away on February 11, 1983, and I was privileged to speak at her funeral.  But more about her tomorrow, and that Christmas of 1982....

Tonight I want to reflect on a decision that I made in 1976, that completely changed my focus and ultimately my life.  I had moved from El Centro, California, to Santa Maria, California, to open up a new Longs Drug Store location as a new Senior Department Manager.  I had been in El Centro for almost a year, and I missed being closer to my family.  El Centro was about 9 hours from Fresno, and Santa Maria was only 3 hours away.

I had settled in my little apartment in Shell Beach, California, in late July, 1976.  Now here is a bachelor who just moved out of the desert, to the splashing surf of Shell Beach just north of Pismo Beach.  I rented a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a garage for $275 per month.  This place was about 100 yards from the beach, and my large picture windows were always filled with the roaring ocean views.  The sound of the ocean could be heard everywhere in the apartment.  I even had a chance to buy that property for under $250,000, that included two more rentals and three separate single car attached garages.

My sister, Jackie, and some friends helped me move in to the apartment.  Then I got a phone call from her about a month later, and she was on some nurses training course in San Antonio, Texas.  I had no idea she was even going!  But she called me around the middle of October 1976, and invited me to come out at the end of her course in two weeks and fly back with her.  And, there was a bonus reason to come.... she wanted to "introduce me to my future wife".  Wait a minute, why complicate my life?  I had the world by the tail.  I had just received a promotion at work, and I was living in a dream apartment.  Why would I say "yes" to that?   Besides I was no longer engaged to be married and I was still a young 26 years old.....  

But to appease my sister I asked my store manager, Dave Bastian, if I could have a "long weekend" to fly to Texas and meet my future wife.... he snickered at me, but since we had worked long hours and had just had a very successful store opening, he let me go.  

I flew out of Santa Maria on October 29, 1976, and flew into the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.  Talk about a frightened young man, I had never been in such a big airport, and I found out you needed change to catch a rail car to the next  terminal where my flight would connect me to San Antonio.  I had no money and was looking at the fare chart to figure out my next step. (I was a credit card kind of guy)  Fortunately I wore a BYU sweatshirt that day, and somebody came along and paid my fare to the right terminal.... probably one of the three Nephites.  I was grateful.  

I got into San Antonio about 15 minutes early and walked to the front of the airport to meet my sister and my future wife, Helen.  I sat on the front planter box just out of the lighted area and saw them walking by.  What a great time to see Helen and make the determination if the trip had been worth it!  Boy was it worth it!!  We had a wonderful weekend together that included Church on Sunday and a flight home with my sister on Monday afternoon.  

Tuesday evening of that week, I called Helen and asked her if she would marry me.  She said, yes, and we were able to get together, again, for Thanksgiving so she could meet the rest of my family. The next time we saw each other was on February 3, 1977, at the Los Angeles airport.  We were married and sealed in the Los Angeles Temple on February 4, 1977.  We had a two week honeymoon in Yosemite, and we were able to start living together in May 1977... now that's another story!

Decisions really do determine our destiny.  I can't imagine where I would have been in this life had I stayed at Shell Beach and pursued that lifestyle.  My decision to go out to meet my future wife was not well thought out, I did not pray about it, nor did I even consider the possibility of getting married as a result of this trip.  But, the Lord knew, and it was up to me to just say I would go, and only after my sister had made the suggestion to go!  I know that He took care of the details that were far beyond my comprehension.  That was 39 years ago.  Can you believe Granny was able to pull me through all these years?  Unbelievable...