First Date

Written: November 5, 2014

The first time I met Jaremy Butler was on September 23, 1995.  I worked at ZCMI in the mall.  I brought my little brother and sister, Jacob and Melissa, with me to work. They hung out at the mall while I worked my evening shift.  A co-worker came up to me and excitedly told me she had set me up on a blind date for that night.  I said my little siblings were with me.  She said to just bring them.  

Dating was okay, but had seemed superficial up to this point.  I went into the dressing room at work and knelt down to pray.  I asked Heavenly Father to help me be myself.  Of course, Heavenly Father knew of my desire to develop a close friendship with someone worthy, fun, smart, righteous, and amazing.  He answered my prayer!

Jake and Melissa were so excited to be going on a date with me.  They ended up being great chaperons.  Jaremy Butler was my date for the evening.  He had longer hair and a goatee.  Jaremy and I found we were both the oldest of eight children.  We had a lot in common and conversation flowed readily.  He quickly won over Jake and Melissa.  They thought he was great!  So did I!  But I didn't dare think much about it. 

After we went bowling we said good-bye.  As we were heading for the car Jaremy ran out and asked me for my phone number.  I was thrilled, but he didn't write it down so I thought he would never call.  Little did I know he memorized it because it was just one digit different from his Aunt Mary's number.  He called the next day and asked me to a fireside.

When we got home Jake and Melissa gushed to my parents all about Jaremy.  They would get a chance to meet him the very next night.

Jaremy invited me to go to a fireside in Logan with him where he would be singing in the choir.  A man that sings -- awesome!  I thought he wouldn't come all the way to Honeyville from Logan to pick me up.  But his family was from the area, so it was no big deal to him.  

I met his sister, Rachel, briefly at the fireside.  The choir sang a cool, bag pipe version of Praise to the Man.  The fireside speaker was Hyrum Smith's great, great grandson or something.  He gave an interesting talk about the Prophet, Joseph Smith and his brother while showing some artifacts.  I sat alone while Jaremy was in the choir seats.

On the way back to Honeyville we talked and talked.  Jaremy was pulled over for speeding on the highway in Deweyville.  I thought it was going to ruin the evening and Jaremy would be stressed and ornery.  To my surprise and delight, it didn't even phase Jaremy.  We just kept talking and laughing while the cop handed him a ticket.  What a welcome surprise!  I started right then to love how Jaremy handled life.  He didn't and doesn't ever have a bad attitude, stress rolls over his back, set backs aren't a big deal.  He was and is even tempered, fun to be around, easy going, calm, mature, and calculated.  This incident got my attention and my admiration. 

When he dropped me off at home Mom and Dad invited him in for ice cream and peaches.  We sat in the living room and visited until late.  My little brothers and sisters were spying on us the whole time.  We discovered Jaremy was very family oriented.  I had a great time!  My parents were impressed!  So was I!