2nd of December 1998

Today is December 2nd! And not a year goes by without me remembering December 2nd and what happened on this day. Here is a picture of the moment I had dreamed of for over 3 1/2 years...

Although for the first 3 years of that three and a half years I didn't know the day would be December 2nd. I just knew it was going to be a loooong time. So, you see, Many years ago, 1995 to be precise, a boy named Corey and a girl named Tiffanie were very much in love. But they were young, and Corey had a priesthood responsibility to fulfill. Back then, young men served missions at 19 years old, not at 18 like today. So he turned in his papers to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here he is after he was "set apart" as a missionary. aka - no more girl hugs! Thus the "at an arms distance" picture.

In July of 1995 he left for the Missionary Training Center (MTC). "Back then" your family and freinds could enter the MTC with you. I got to go with Corey and help him with his luggage.

And two months after that he was on his way to Santiago Chile. "Back then" your friends and family could go into the airport and walk right up to the gate to bid you farewell.

And here I am taking a picture with Corey's family. The picture above and the one below were the final pictures that I kept in my photo album and looked at, longingly for 3 years, trying to remember that moment from so long ago.

So with Corey, it was MTC in June, then September 12, 1995 at the airport (thank you to my old film camera for the date on the photo!) That was the last time we saw each other. 1995 goes by, we wrote many letters. 1996 and 1997 go by. I was sure he was still a real person, but one, then two years into it and it all just kinda started to feel like a dream. At one point for several months, I was working 4 jobs to save money so I could serve a mission. "Back then" girls had to wait until 21 years old to serve, unlike 19-year-old sister missionaries today. Corey encouraged me to go, mostly cause he knew if he didn't steer me in that direction, I might take that to mean that he was asking me to stay, which would most likely mean I was planning on getting a diamond ring from him shortly after his return. And Corey wasn't ready for that kind of pressure! He already felt obligated enough, poor kid. Although, in my defense and now with 11 children born to us, I like to blame my "Corey obsession" on the kids. I think in their premortal realm they followed me around and sang like a choir of angels in my head and heart every time I saw Corey. So I leave on a mission to Tempe Arizona, Spanish speaking. I enter to the MTC in May of 1997 for 2 months to learn Español.

I leave for Arizona at the beginning of July 1997. Get this - Corey comes home from Chile mid July, just weeks later! Yeah, we just barely missed seeing each other! I think it was a blessing, but I was also totally bummed. So we kept writing letters and sending packages (this was in the days before email was the standard form of missionary communication). And once I was a missionary, I knew the time between transfers and I was able to kinda figure out when I'd be released. It was supposed to be on November 18th if I was to serve 18 months, but our mission transfers were November 4th or December 2nd. I was super excited to go home and be with Corey, but for some reason I decided to stay the extra two weeks. And then, the big day finally came. I remember waking up that morning in slight disbelief that the day had come. I remember being on the plane, in awe that I was going to actually see Corey!!!!!  I would see him in an hour! And then I did see him. He drove to the airport with my family so we could drive home together. We stayed and visited for a little while and he asked if I was busy that night. We went out on a date after I was released from full time missionary service - we wet to temple square to deliver a package to a sister missionary from Arizona who was serving here in SL. Being together with Corey again was as wonderful as I had remembered. It was like we just picked up where we had left off (hence us getting married just over 2 months later!) It was like we'd never been apart, even though we both knew we had been, we had just been apart for THREE AND A HALF FREAKING YEARS!! And that it was really hard!! I'm grateful now, mostly cause it's behind me and I never have to do that again. I think that going through that hard long trial might be something that has helped us to have a strong marriage. So anyway, yeah, December 2nd, that was the day my life with Corey began again.