The Easter Present

A new family moved into our area during the fall of 1976.  They had a daughter a few years younger than me, and she fit right in with the rest of us young adults.  Once in awhile she would talk about her older brother, Sheldon, who was on a mission in Idaho, but I didn't pay much attention since I was busy trying to catch Gene's eye.

She and her mom joined our ward choir.  One Sunday at the end of January her mother sat next to me and started telling me about her son, who was coming home in March. 

"Here we go again," I thought, as she told me all about how wonderful Sheldon was.  It seemed like mothers always thought I would be perfect for their sons, but nothing ever came of their matchmaking. 

By this time I had stopped worrying that I would become an old maid.  There seemed to be lots of young men out there who were interested in me, they just weren't the ones I was interested in.  I had gone to a fireside a few months earlier where the speaker talked to us about not being so picky when choosing a mate.  He said we should give people a chance, and any two people could be happy together as long as they were living the gospel and doing what's right.  Maybe I took what he said too literally, but I decided I ought to be more open minded.

By the end of February Sheldon's mom was assuring me that we were perfect for each other, and had me counting down the days till he came home.  In the meantime, I was still waiting for Gene to ask me out again, but it had been over a month since our last date and I was beginning to loose hope.

Sheldon got home about noon on March 15th.  His mom had told him all about me in her letters, so as soon as they finished dinner he asked her to call and see if he could come meet me.  He and his mom and dad came over about 7:00.  They introduced Sheldon to me and my parents, and then we sat around in our family room visiting.  He was pretty cute, and seemed very nice.  Whereas Gene had been about the same height as me, Sheldon was a few inches taller.  Gene had brown eyes, but Sheldon had blue, a huge plus in my mind.  I'd always wanted to marry a boy with blue eyes so my children would have them, too.  Gene had dark hair, and Sheldon's was only light brown, but still, two out of three wasn't bad. 

I tried to remember Sheldon from high school, we graduated the same year, but with a class of  over 800 it wasn't surprising that our paths had never crossed.  I had a vague recollection of hearing something about him, I thought it had to do with him being a player, but I wasn't even sure if it was the same person. 

Sheldon and his folks didn't stay too long that night, but before he left he'd asked me to go out with him the following night, and I'd said yes.

Thus began our quick, whirl-wind courtship.  We went out every night that week, and by Sunday Sheldon had given me a braided leather bracelet and asked me to go steady with him.  To tell you the truth, I was mostly in shock.  I mean, I had lots of fun with Sheldon, there was never any lack of things to say, he was gregarious and open, always cracking jokes and laughing.  Over time I realized that what Sheldon really was was an excellent salesman.  He could sell anything to anyone, including himself to me, but at the time I  thought he was just really easy to talk to. 

I still watched for Gene everywhere we went, but on the few occasions I saw him he was with a date.  "Oh well," I told myself.  "We just weren't meant to be," and I turned my attention back to Sheldon. 

Within two weeks he was talking about marriage, but I wasn't.  I mean, I was having a great time being swept off my feet, but I didn't really even know this guy.  Dad tried to talk us into slowing down one night, and Sheldon was very respectful and agreeable, but I don't think he understood what dad was saying, and I was just going along for the ride. 

Mom and Dad invited Sheldon's family to come up to the cabin with us for the Easter Holidays, thinking it would be a good idea for everyone to get to know each other.  Sheldon's family stayed in Grandma and Grandpa Russell's cabin at the bottom of the hill.  Our family stayed in our cabin on top.  Sheldon teased me all the way to the cabin, telling me he had something very special to put in my Easter basket.  I laughed and teased back, but there was a cold little knot in the pit of my stomach, worrying that it was going to be an engagement ring, and not knowing what I would do if it was.

I really liked Sheldon, I really enjoyed all the attention he was giving me and all the fun I had going out with him every night, but I didn't know if I was ready to get married yet.  I had a few misgivings, mostly about his family, and I wasn't sure what to do.  I'd never met people like them before.  I suppose I grew up very sheltered, but somehow I had supposed that everyone who was a member of our church would be the same as we were.  I'd never imagined that there could be people who went to church, professed to believe in the Savior and His gospel, but didn't live it like us. 

One of the first things I learned about Sheldon's parents was that they argued all the time.  In fact, they liked to introduce themselves by saying that they started fighting on their honeymoon and hadn't stopped since.  I couldn't figure out why anyone would think that was something to boast about.  The other thing they told people was that they spent a great deal of money going to Las Vegas for their honeymoon, and wished they hadn't because they never left their hotel room.  To me, coming from a family that was very reserved and private about intimate matters, hearing people talk about sex so openly was really embarrassing.  And they talked about it a lot. 

We had a nice weekend at the cabin, but Easter morning was very tense until I found my basket.  Sheldon's mom had decorated it for me, and he hid it outside under the big cedar tree in front of Grandpa's cabin.  I looked and looked for it, and Sheldon gave me hints and clues, but the whole time I was sick to my stomach worrying about what was inside.  When I finally found it under a bail of wire I was so tense I could hardly smile.  There, sitting on top of the Easter eggs and candy, was a beautiful, little white box. 

"I knew it," I thought, picking it up and looking at Sheldon's laughing eyes.  "What am I going to do? "What am I going to say?"

"Open it," Sheldon urged as I held the little box in my hand.  I looked at him one more time, then with trembling fingers pried the lid off.  Inside was a lovely silver bracelet and matching set of earrings!  Thank goodness!

"I love them!" I exclaimed, laughing with relief and happiness.  At least I had been spared the embarrassment of having my whole family and his whole family see me get an engagement ring.

"I thought about giving you a ring for Easter," Sheldon laughed as he took the bracelet out and slipped it onto my wrist, "but I decided to wait until I was sure you were ready to give me the right answer."

So, there it was.  He was planning on asking me to marry him, just not quite yet.  Oh well, I had a little more time to pray and make up my mind, and in the meantime I was able to enjoy that Easter, and the candy and dinner and joy of being up at the cabin.  And it was a lovely day.

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