August 28, 2000 – First Day of School and FHE with the Ward

August 28, 2000 – First Day of School and FHE with the Ward

The first day of school was great and already I was wondering what Rob’s schedule was. I had already hatched a plan to be a part of Rob’s life.

For the Ward FHE that night we met on temple grounds and then walked over to the park right down the street. I remember that was the first night seeing Bishop Freeze with the whistle around his neck. We were to receive our FHE “families” that night. Of course, I was hoping to be one of Rob’s FHE “sisters.” We walked over to the park, two girls to one guy. I think they lined us up in alphabetical order. Either that or I tried to put myself where I thought I needed to be to walk up with Rob. I think I missed by one or two people. Bummer.

Rob: I think another girl named Shanda had the same idea as Tamra, but Shanda actually ended up being one of my walking partners. Shanda had been a little more proactive (Tamra describes it as rudeness!) and was rearranging herself in line to be my partner. Of course I didn’t realize this until much later after analyzing the events of the semester over and over again. Shanda plays a role though it be somewhat small in this story. She will visit us again . . .

We got to the park and I found out that, bummer again, I was not to be in Rob’s FHE group. Oh well.

And there was Rob, sitting on a hill, surrounded by girls (as the guys in the ward always were, it was a 2:1 ratio of girls to guys). So I tried the only thing I could think of. I wore a random CTR ring that I don’t even know where came from. I thought the letters were German, but I didn’t know. Rob had told me that first night we met that he served his mission in Germany, so I asked from a few couples away (he was sitting above me on the hill) what CTR would be in German. It turns out I was right, that the letters were CTR in German, but that wasn’t why I asked that night.

written Spring 2006