My "prince" came along, and I didn't have to kiss a frog

It was Sunday morning towards the end of the summer of 1948. As usual my family were at Church to attend Sunday School. Back then Sunday School and Priesthood meeting were held Sunday morning. Then we would go home and return later in the afternoon or early evening for Sacrament Meeting. The auxiliary organizations (Primary and Relief Society) were held during the week. That Sunday, which I remember very well, we were singing the opening song at the beginning of the Sunday School meeting (everyone met together first for opening exercises) when the chapel door opened and I turned around to see who was coming in late. The first to enter was a handsome young man who I guessed was in his early twenties holding two small children by the hand. Following him were two other handsome young teens, the younger being the better looking...at least in my mind, a younger boy about ten, and a girl in her early teens. You can imagine the buzz that went on in our classes that day, at least among the girls. Who was this new family? Were they just visiting or had they moved into our ward? Where was the mother of all these children? How could the young man who was holding the hands of the two young children be old enough to be the father of these teen-age boys? We just couldn't figure it all out.

It turned out that this family had moved into the ward. Their last name was Mortensen, the boys (Jay, age 18, Jim, age 15, and Rey, age ten) and the girl (Elsie or "Lisa" age 13) were siblings of the oldest young man, Jesse, who was just 25. The little children (Jesse Jr. or "Butch" and Judy) were his children, and his wife, Jean had been ill that first Sunday so we didn't meet her until later. It was a while before we learned how they all came to be one happy family, but we really didn't care at that time. As young girls, what mattered to us was how we could win the attention of these younger "boys". The competition was on and the flirting began! The one I was interested in was Jim, the fifteen year old. I wanted nothing to do with "older" boys anymore. I had learned my lesson. Since I would be returning for my final year in Junior High School, and Jim would be in high school, the only contact I had was at church, and he wasn't in any of my classes. So it was just a "hi" and a smile as I passed him in the hall. When school started, I talked my sister, Georgia, into taking me with her to the first high school football game in hopes of at least seeing him, if not sitting close enough to strike up a conversation. It wasn't too difficult to convince her because she had shown an interest in the older brother, Jay, who was also attending high school. I worked!!! Somehow Jim and Jay found seats just behind us in the bleachers. Jim claims it wasn't by accident. He says that he and his brother saw us and made it a point to sit behind us because he had had his eye on me since the first time he saw me in church. I guess we were both a little shy. But that was the beginning of an off and on relationship that would end in a very long "on" (53 years and counting).

Yes, we did start dating even though I was just fourteen and Jim fifteen. He couldn't even drive, so we always double dated with his brother, Jay. Some of those dates were with my sister as Jay and she became good friends. Other times Jay dated a girl who lived down the street. He would drop Jim and me off at my house while he said "good-night" to his date. This could take anywhere from one to two hours. Jim would get so tired of waiting that often he would just run home, a distance of about a mile. He said he was afraid my dad would kill him if he saw how long he was there after a date.

We dated that whole year, always double, until February when Jim got his driver's license. Then we had a few dates on our own. I just want you to know that Jim was always good mannered and proper in every way, always opening doors, walking on the street side of a sidewalk, helping me with my coat, etc. He never made improper advances and didn't even kiss me good-night until we had been dating for about six months in spite of the fact that his sister-in-law, Jean, kept asking him "Did you kiss her yet?" after every date. It was really special when he finally did because it was my first kiss. It was in my garage, by the the back door, underneath a light that my parents left on when we were out on dates. I still remember all those details.

The highlight of that year of dating was when before attending an orchestra concert at my school (I'm sure it was a pure act of love to attend a concert at all), he presented me with my first corsage made of thirteen pink roses. It was huge! My shoulder was hardly big enough to hold it. I've never had one like that since. If I remember correctly, we were going to a dance after the concert.

We never considered that we were "going steady" at any time. We both knew that we had the freedom to date anyone else we chose. But I don't remember going out with anyone else that year, and I wasn't aware that Jim did either. But when summer came this young, egotistical, immature, teenager (me) decided to explore new waters when an opportunity presented itself. In a way it was good because I was too young and so was Jim to remain in a relationship that could only get more serious if it continued. However, at the time, this was not my motivation. It was only and ego trip I went on. Don't miss the next blog!