Christine - And How She Came To Be Mine!

Chris and her boys, Keats (L) and her big baby, McGwire (R).

This beautiful woman is my wife. After having seen pictures of me, I could fully understand why you would wonder how I was so fortunate to end up with her. Well, I'll tell you!

Chris and I first met in the fall of 1981. I was a Freshman at Southern Utah State College in Cedar City (now SUU), and she was a Senior at Payson High. We had both been in Speech and Drama in High School, and were intent on pursuing it at College. I was helping the Drama department to host the annual Shakespearean Competition - in which Chris was competing. I was registering students and writing their name tags by hand when Chris approached my table. The first thing I noticed was this really cool shirt that had a zebra print across the front of it and on to the sleeve, where the mane was made with fringe down the whole arm. It was really cool. And I must say, the girl wearing it wasn't too hard on the eyes either! (hubba hubba!).

Later in the competition I ran into her again and asked her if I could show her around the campus. OF COURSE it was a ploy to get to know her! I knew she knew the campus, but it worked, and soon we were off for an afternoon of walking, talking and getting to know eachother. My plan was to end up in the darkened balcony of the main theater on base, and maybe, just maybe, get a kiss. Well, we made it to the balcony, we sat and talked for a while. I didn't feel like leaning over and taking a kiss was the right thing to do, so I asked her if she minded very much if I kissed her. To my everlasting joy, she said YES! I was smitten. Well, Chris left that afternoon to return to Payson, and I went back to school...

The next fall, I was in the student union building checking on my mail, when I saw this cute gal talking to her friends. She was dressed in pink - pink mini-skirt, go go boots... I knew instantly that I had kissed her before. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I knew her from, or even remember her name, but I remembered her lips... I HAD to find out... so I butt in to the conversation, and said, "Excuse me, this is going to sound like a total pick-up line, but I swear I've kissed you before!" Her friends rolled their eyes and started laughing and after telling her they'd catch up to her later, turned and walked away. Well, we began the run down, and finally figured out where we'd met before, and to my credit, SHE ADMITTED I HAD KISSED HER!!!

From that point on, this beautiful woman and I were inseperable. We went everywhere together, did everything with eachother, and fell madly, head over heels in love with eachother. On our first date, I took her to see a movie in town called "The Watcher in the Woods." On the way back, I plugged her headphones into my walkman (it had two audio jacks), and under the moon in the cool fall air, Chris and I danced in eachother's arms to The Stray Cats' "Lonely Summer Nights." It was a magical moment for me.

The following February, Chris and I were married and began our 23 year long journey that has brought us to this point. We have gone through hell to have the kind of relationship we do. We have paid the price to be in love still, and to have the wonderful family we do. There isn't another woman on this earth that can compete with Chris. When it comes to complete and total grace and beauty, she has everyone beat - hands down. I am a better man for having her in my life, and I couldn't live without her. Christine? After all these years, I still get a catch in my breath and my heart skips a beat when I see you. I love you with all my heart.

This is me... take it or leave it.