Melissa’s parents
Mark and I grew up going to the same teen dances sponsored through our church. We never really saw each other because he was 5’4” tall and I was 5’ 8” tall and wearing platform shoes. It was the 70’s. We say I just looked over his head and he just would never have asked someone so tall to dance. 😊
We officially met after Mark came home from his first year of college at BYU. We were at a single adult Christmas activity. We went Christmas caroling and rode in the same car together.
He asked me over to bake cookies one evening after I got off work. We made snickerdoodles. They burned.
He left for his mission to Chile not long after that. I wrote to him and to another guy while they were gone for two years. He came home from his mission on Christmas Eve. His mother invited me to come over on Christmas day to see him. I arrived and he was not home. He had gone to visit some buddies. After three hours, I told his mom I needed to leave. He never called to say sorry for missing me, either.
We both attended the New Year’s Eve dance. He says he walked into the building, and I was standing there surrounded by a bunch of guys. I was wearing a blue velvet dress. He says when he saw me in that dress he knew. We flirted a lot that night. He rode with me to breakfast. I made my sister ride with someone else so we could be alone. Sorry, Sandy.
A few days later, I was leaving to go to BYU. He wanted to see me again before I left. He wanted me to come over and go into the hot tub with his brother and his girlfriend. Now that I was leaving town, suddenly guys wanted to see me before I left. Mark was the third one. I finally made it over to his house, but my swimsuit was packed so I had to wear shorts and a t-shirt into the hot tub. Yes, I had underclothes on, too. He likes to tell people now that I went into the hot tub with him without a bathing suit.
While at BYU we spoke on the phone a lot. This was during the time when you had to wait until after 11:00 pm to call when the rates went down. I tell people we fell in love over the phone. We would talk every night till 3-4 in the morning. I had to be at work at 8:00 am and sometimes I would doze off at my desk.
I invited him to come to BYU for the Sadie Hawkins dance in February. He did not have a car or money to fly. He knew an elderly couple who had children in Provo and asked if he could drive them there so he could come to the dance. They agreed. He stayed in the apartment of some guys in my ward. One day we drove up Provo canyon. While there he asked me to marry him, and I said yes. When we called our parents to tell them they all said it was about time.
I finished my semester and came back to Sacramento. We were married on July 17, 1981, in the Oakland LDS Temple. Both of our dads were bishops (church leader) and their wards (geographic boundary) met in the same building. People said it was like marrying off royalty. We stood in our receiving line the entire three hours of the reception. The line just never ended.
Since that day, we’ve been married for 41 years and have added seven children and fourteen grandchildren to our family.
Kenny Rogers said it best in his song Through the Years. I’ve included his lyrics.
Through the Years
I can’t remember when you weren’t there
When I didn’t care for anyone but you
And I swear we’ve been through everything there is
Can’t imagine anything we’ve missed
Can’t imagine anything the two of us can’t do
Through the years, you’ve never let me down
You turned my life around
The sweetest days I’ve found, I’ve found with you
Through the years, I’ve never been afraid
I’ve loved the life we’ve made
And I’m so glad I stayed right here with you
Through the years
I can’t remember what I used to do
Who I trusted, whom I listened to before
I swear you’ve taught me everything I know
Can’t imagine needing someone so
Through the years, it seems to me I need you more and more
Through the years, through all the good and bad
I know how much we had
I’ve always been so glad to be with you
Rick Lebherz & Melissa Anderson 
Leave a comment