Tall, dark, handsome, recently returned missionary, not engaged and a dancer—it was perfect, except he showed no interest in me. We met in the spring of 1963 as I was starting my field project for my master’s degree. I invited him to perform in my program. Impressed by his good looks and availability, I held my breath hoping he’d ask me out. We were both 22; more mature than many dating couples at BYU, but it wasn’t until the following fall that he finally asked me for a date.
We went to see a foreign Portuguese language film “Black Orpheus” about carnival since he‘d been a missionary in Brazil. Dating every night that first week, we studied together or met at dance practices. Our relationship developed quickly because mission presidents always counseled their departing missionaries to get married as soon as possible. Being a poor undergraduate student at BYU, there was no money for an engagement ring but that didn’t stop us from getting engaged at Christmastime. My boy friend would design and make our rings for the wedding.
That was my first disappointment after so many years of waiting to be engaged. Without a ring, it’s a little strange to go around saying “I’m engaged” and then hiding my ring finger; but I was happy and in love. My fiancé would finish our homemade rings just before the wedding. In the Art Department housed in BY Academy’s building on lower campus, the rings were carved out of wax. Then the models were placed in an empty tuna fish can and filled with plaster. At high heat, the wax was burned out and dentist’s silver was centrifuged into the ring’s form. After sanding and polishing the rings, an inexpensive zircon gem was glued in to make this a truly unique set. As creative as our relationship and life together would be, I thought.
I had now achieved most of my goals: college graduation, a new career as a dance teacher, and an engagement. A busy summer 1964 awaited both of us as I toured Europe with the folk dancers. My intended worked in summer theatre in Michigan then at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We were able to meet up in New York City for the World’s Fair before returning home to Utah for our wedding in August, and a new life as man and wife living happily ever after.