Opposites Attract

I wanted to tell a little more about my parents and how they met.

My mom grew up in New York. She had two older brothers and they were they only Mormons (LDS) in their entire school. Her mother was an immigrant from Germany, and was the only grandparent I had when I was born-though she died when I was two. My mother moved to Utah with her family when she was an adolescent.

My dad grew up in California. He had two older sisters and was raised in a tightly knit Christian community. He began showing symptoms of mental illness after high school and ended up moving to Utah.

My mom ended up marrying and having three children. She was married for over twenty years when one day her husband sat her down and explained that he was having an affair and wanted a divorce. She was devastated-obviously. Her kids were out of the house, she had just hit forty, and had no intention of dating ever again.

My dad came to Utah, and within the first few months he was converted and baptized into the LDS church. He smoked at least a pack a day, and drank more than just socially, but somehow felt it was right. So he set out for change.

One of my mom's girlfriends had been begging her to go to an adult singles dance at on of the LDS church buildings. My mom wanted nothing to do with it but after a while, was worn down and finally said she would accompany her friend, though she would do absolutely no dancing, and was purely there for moral support. As she sat along the wall she watched the other couples dancing and laughing, wanting nothing more than to just go home and be alone herself. Then the unthinkable happened. A man came up and asked her to dance. First thing she noticed- he REEKED of cigarette smoke. She really didn't want to dance, especially with him, but he seemed nice and she felt bad so she said yes. As she danced with him she learned that he had just moved to Utah and didn't know anyone. When he asked for her number, she had told him that she wasn't interested in dating. He told her that he understood, and all he was really looking for was a friend. She thought about it for a second and figured there was no harm in friendship, and he did seem like a nice guy despite the smoke smell. A few days later she received a call in the middle of the night from a hospital in Park City. My dad was working at one of the ski resorts at the time and had a bad fall down one of the ski slopes. Her number was the only contact information they found in his wallet and asked if she could come pick him up. She  did and spent the next few weeks taking care of him. The rest just sort of happened. They fell in love, he proposed, she said yes, and a year and a half later she had me. The end.:)