Small world again!!! The Pulsiphers were invited to the neighbors house for dinner and I opted to stay home. Lo and behold the husband is the son of a former acquaintance whom I had dated a couple of times in 1959 in San Diego and known for awhile. I remember that week well.
I had just come back from BYU and moved into a new place. It was purposely an apartment upstairs as I felt safer and a young couple with a baby lived next door. Both Colleen and Marta were now married. I had broken up with Bill (we were planning marriage and then broke up). It was the religion problem again. My parents were going to meet us in Salt Lake City and so drove on down to see how I was. It was late May I think. I have written about that strange episode earlier so skipping to this week I returned from BYU.
I went to church Sunday night and all my friends were there. Norma had written there was a new guy in the ward she wanted me to meet. I said, "No". It was Richard, and he immediately came up after the meeting and introduced himself and asked if I would go to the Fireside with him. I told him Danny had already asked me. Sometime Clinton (the father of the neighbor) asked me to go golfing on Saturday morning and Bob asked me to go to a movie on Wednesday. I had been dating Bill, a nonmember for a few years, and was suddenly "available" and that is why I was getting rushed. Monday was Labor Day and Richard took me to Balboa Park but he asked for another date and we settled on Friday night. He knew I had these other dates. Tuesday we were decorating for something at Mutual and I remember talking to all of them. We were all in transition.
Danny had been dating Lani, but was unsure about marriage yet and was always flirting with me, We had been in a play together and I played his mother!! He even visited me when I had my wisdom teeth out and brought me ice cream. Clinton had been dating a girl but really wanted to date her roommate I found out when we decided we did not have any chemistry but enjoyed talking only. We had gone golfing and on one other date before I found this out. Richard had broken up with a girl sometime before he came to San Diego and had been dating another in San Diego before I came back in August. Bob was getting ready to get out of the Navy and had asked me out before. We were all friends as there was only one Stake at that time and we all went to the Saturday night dances. I used to bring Bill when he would come with me but we often sailed on Saturday and Sunday afternoon if there were races so we were not always there.
Anyway I remember encouraging Clinton on our last date (as I was now having feelings for Richard) to never mind the code of not dating the roommate of a former girl you had dated. If he felt that strongly about her, he should ask her out. He did and they later married. He was Temple President when Richard died and when my children and I went to the Temple a few days later it was so crowded but his wife intervened and brought us to the front of the line and had more chairs added so we could immediately get into a session. I always appreciated that kindness to us.
Anyway Danny married Lani and lives down the street from Meagan. Richard took me to meet his mother the second week after he met me. He thought all the guys were after me and he dropped all other dating and concentrated on me. He was a "Take Charge Guy" and I pretty much let him take charge of my life. The neighbors next door said "some guy keeps running up the stairs to see if you are home". He was an appraiser for a bank so I guess when he was in the area he would check to see if I was home. A strange think about chemistry. I remember Richard and I felt very comfortable together and I would let him hold my hand that first day. Whereas the other guys I did not want them to even touch me. Except Danny and I had chemistry but I never thought of him as marriage material for some reason, just a fun guy to flirt with...
I don't know what happened to Bob. He was such a nice guy and really thought I was the one for him. At any rate I was living alone, teaching school with no chance of time off and Richard had just started a new job, etc. etc. etc. so we married on a Friday evening six weeks after we met and were back to work on Monday morning and lived at my place for about a week before we moved to a bigger place where Richard had been living with a roommate and the roommate moved out. It was in Normal Heights and I was teaching at Hamilton School not too far away. I taught school till the end of the term and then we moved to Pacific Beach on Felspar. Loved living there!!! Richard had changed jobs and was working for a firm in La Jolla, rather than downtown. It was all a whirlwind with Richard managing everything...I let him handle everything until he had his heart attack in 1969 and then I stepped up to become more of a partner than a princess being taken care of...I always liked being a princess.
Oh, yes, the other funny thing that happened. After our first Friday night date Richard was just saying good night to me at the top of the stairs when Bill appeared and Richard had to leave. I think that further pushed him to drop everything else and pursue me. Who knows...
Danny as the son, me as the Mom
Bob was fourth from right--oh and John second from right I dated prior to Bill--a lot of singles in the ward.
Norma is on the right end and Danny, fourth from the left.
Bill
Richard
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