Feliz Día de Madre, Mi Querida Compañera

To celebrate Mothers Day, I write this extremely brief tribute to my wonderful companion.

We met in November of 1962 while we were both 17 and on a journalism trip of Utah County students. I represented Lehi High School, she BY High School. This is what she looked like then (she was as smart and hard-working as she was cute):


She graduated from BY High, class of '63. This is her graduation picture:


In February of 1964, I left on my mission. This is the note I wrote her (she saved it!) to thank her and her mother for coming to my farewell:


A year and a half after my mission, we got engaged. This is her engagement picture:


She graduated from BYU with High Honors shortly before we got married. This is a picture taken just after her graduation:


She graduated a second time from BYU, this time in 1993 with a Ph.D., after raising seven kids. This picture was taken just after she graduated and accepted a position as a professor of English at BYU (notice the old-fashioned IBM Selectric typewriter):


During her career at BYU, she saw many of our kids and our children-in-law get a BYU degree. Here are Beverly with me in our academic robes, with our daughter Sheri, our daughter-in-law Erin, and our son Russ:


After a 16-year career at BYU she retired to go on a mission. This is the last picture taken of her in her BYU office (notice the modern desktop computer):


In October 2008, we left on our mission. Here we are with three grandkids after the sacrament meeting where we gave our "farewell" talk:


Here she is as a missionary, receiving love and attention from the Peruvian members and serving them by playing and teaching piano:


Thank you, Beverly, for being the most wonderful companion (missionary and otherwise) in the world. Thanks for being such a wonderful wife, a loving mother of seven kids, a devoted scholar (academic- and gospel-wise), and a doting grandmother of 17 (soon to be 19) grandkids. Happy Mothers Day!