wedding

Chad and I met nearly 5 years ago in the back room at Super 1 Foods in Kalispell, MT. He worked in produce, I in floral. I remember him a bright, sincere, funny, and honest man. I also remember he was 16 years old, and a sophomore in high school. I, on the other hand, was 20 and a sophomore in college. So beyond the occasional smile, maybe a brush of an arm, a little flirtation, nothing more was said. In fact, the closest we came to even imagining ourselves in a relationship, involved my constant set-up; Chad with my younger sister, Tiffany. She was beautiful, more his age, and the part that really mattered, eager to double date with me. So our "dates" encompassed my various potentials (or not so potential), Tiffany and Chad, and a trek into the woods, a rodeo, or a trip to the drive-in.

A short three months and I was gone again, off to college in Oregon. On trips home I would pop in and see Chad's dad, RC, (the manager of Super 1) and ask of him. Everthing was well.

Until Tiffany died, and my life seemed a bit topsy turvey. I began a more earnest search. A search for God, a search for hope, for meaning, and for reason. It would be a rough couple years. Ones I suppose I needed, and then I would find myself whisked off in a fairytail job to San Pedro, Belize.

Just before I left, I stopped one last time in Super 1, just for groceries, and ran into RC. I mentioned to him my luck, and to my utter delight, he informed me Chad was a mere country away in Hondurus serving his two year mission.

Bedded down with work, I didn't find time to make it to Hondurus, but I did hear of Chad. Sometimes, particularly at a Christmas party hosted by the LDS, I ran into missionaries that knew of him. They would tell me he was well, this or that little tidbit, and since separated by the island, knew nothing more.

A few weeks after my last return from Belize, Chad, too would return home. A month later, I would find the nerve to pick up the phone book and "if they're listed" give Chad a ring.

A week later he would come to my house for a movie. The same man, honest, sincere, handsome, and loveable, would step from the car. It was wonderful how quickly I remembered him.

Our third evening, we would have our first kiss, and shortly there after he would take a chance, that no other I know would have taken. He was true to himself. He was true to his path. And he was true to me.

He shared in the next 4 hours the gospel, what it meant to him, what it was, what it could be in my life as well. No pressure, just honest concern and love. He noted that he couldn't in good faith start anything with me, when he knew how much the gospel meant in his life, and what it would need to mean in his wife's.

So I converted for love? No. I listened for love. I truly believe that we can only hear and have faith when we are not afraid. We are not afraid, when we feel loved. And I could tell he loved me. I could tell, what he said, though I knew it not at the time, was the most sincere and truthful thing he knew. And that man I had admired so many years ago, was who he was, because of this path that he based his life on.

To my luck, the missionaries and a family that knew and loved Tiffany even before her death, had left us a copy of the Book of Mormon. That night I read.

In August I was babtised, with true faith and testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have grown in faith and love and knowledge, and with each step I have grown closer to Chad. I have learned of eternal families. I have learned of being sealed in the temple. I have renewed hope, and can see a golden thread through my life and his. One that kept us close, but didn't interfere. We would find eachother.

I love our story. It is one of eternities. It is like unto a fairytale in its beauty, but surpasses any that I've known, for it is real.