42nd Anniversary

Notwithstanding Emily’s humorous “The Husband Store” blog, I’d like to share my own personal criteria for choosing my husband. The three items in my criteria were formulated during my adolescence. As I was growing up, I slowly began to realize that “rich” and “drop-dead gorgeous” and other Hollywood-style values were not the highest ideals with which to measure a future husband. Therefore, the three “musts” of my husband-criteria were these:

1. First, my future husband must be good—a man of virtue and integrity. But, more than that, he must be a faithful, righteous Latter-day Saint. If he was the latter, then he most certainly would also be the former. The husband-leader I would follow must needs be committed to the path of righteousness. If he was true and faithful in all things, then he would also be doing his best in all things. Goodness trumps worldly wealth by measureless volumes.

2. Second, my future husband, I decided, must be nice to me. I would never stay with an angry, vengeful, mean personality. Love and gentleness and respect shining from someone’s face is stunningly beautiful (regardless of physical attributes). Kindness trumps good-looks every time.

3. Last, my future husband had to be “smarter” than I was. I needed someone in whom I could feel intellectual respect and trust. To acquiesce to my husband-leader I needed to be able to trust that he possessed knowledge and wisdom that I lacked.

When The Knight proposed, I knew pertinent background information on him as well as his future aspirations. I felt that I could trust him to fulfill my criteria. Of course, I also felt that Heavenly Father had rather dramatically pointed him out to me some three years earlier. Besides that, he was cute and lovable with his perpetual jaunty cheerfulness!