FIFTY-FIVE YEARS...

 

Fifty-five years ago, hand in hand with the man I had chosen to spend not only this life with, but all of eternity, I entered through the doors of the nearly new Los Angeles Temple to begin a journey full of promise.  The date was June 7, 1957.  In that amazing setting, I was promised happiness beyond anything I could ever imagine--if I remained true to the covenants that I would make that day.  I was promised children to bless this union, and I tried to picture them in my minds eye.  They would bring me both joy and sorrow, but because of the covenants that my sweetheart and I would make that day, they would be given amazing opportunities for growth.

It was on this date that I married Gerald Vernon Henderson, a farm boy from Burley, Idaho.  It was to be a union of a country boy and a city girl.  Some would say that it couldn't last; city VS country was a lethal combination.  True, we would find conflicts because of our individual backgrounds, but we managed to succeed in spite of the warnings.  The joy I felt that day cannot be told.  The journey we began would find us traveling all over this world!

The promise of children were realized.  Together, we brought five beautiful spirits into this world.
Each one was an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father.  Each one brought their own unique personality with them and did bring joy (and sometimes) sorrow into our lives.  Each one has used their own talents and agency finding their way through their own lives.  And each one has grown into a completion for the whole which defines our lives.

Gerry was a cute little boy, son of Maggie and George Henderson.  He grew up in hard times and that gave him strengths that he would need throughout our life together.  He learned about life early, and grew up much too fast for such a precious little boy.

As he grew up, he inherited those typical Scottish freckles and sandy colored hair that belied his inheritance from the land of his forefathers in Scotland.  Those freckles and sandy colored hair were a part of him that I adored.

While we lived in Salt Lake City, Gerry served as Elder's Quorum President.  He was diligent in his willingness to serve and with his counselors did a marvelous job leading.  At times, I felt like a widow to the Quorum duties that would find him gone many nights during the week.  But, I supported him in his calling.  Looking back, I wonder if that period, like so many others in our life together, was a foreshadowing of things to come.

The other day, I was going through an old journal and came across the entries of the precious year before his death.  I never dreamed when I married him that he would leave me so soon, but I should have paid attention more to the clues he was leaving in that year.  It was a glorious year and many experiences brought us closer together.  We shared joy and we shared heartache, but the strength of my husband brought us through and we became closer than we had been all of the previous 21 years.  He taught me to find my own strengths.  He taught me that even though we go through some really hard experiences, we (with the help of God) can get through them.  We are not going to "melt"!

We celebrated our 22nd Anniversary on June 7, 1980, and in just 8 short months, on February 7, 1981, he was gone!

Gerry...I miss you so much today and always.  There are times when I fall to my knees and ask my Heavenly Father, "Why?"  and the tears flow.  And there are other times when I realize that the growth in my own Testimony and strength that I have gained over all of these years since his passing, were all in the Good Lord's vision for me.  He knew I could not grow as much as I have, had Gerry remained here.

And so, today I say, "Happy Anniversary, Gerry."  I pray you are remembering me as much as I remember you.  I love you, and I always will.