Singing "Abide With Me"

Journal Entry September 28, 1986. I FEEL SO DEPRESSED, and lonely. I’ve decided that I probably will never get married. All of the eligible guys are at BYU and here I am in Tacoma, Washington. . .I am trying to find meaning to my life. . . There are probably many people here who feel maybe just as lonely, or even lonelier than me, so I’m going to try to take some of that loneliness away. I pray that I will have help with this. . .

Even now, as I write this, I can hear the sweet sounds of a young, humble man singing in a clear, warm tenor tone, the pleading words of the hymn “Abide With Me”. Our good friend, and my potential suitor, thought it would be a brilliant idea if the Young Adults in our stake got together a choir and our debut song was to be “Abide With Me.” (Mostly because it was one of the few hymns I could play flawlessly). The “choir” was a group of 4 of the Young Adult men, and I gladly accepted the invitation to be pianist. I had already set my eyes on you, and knew this would be an opportunity to get to know you better. (Yea!) We practiced sometimes as a choir and sometimes you and I alone (so you could learn the tenor notes). Your voice was amazing, warm, tender, real. Hearing you sing the beautiful, solemn tenor notes in the song brought such a peace and a calm thrill to my soul. It still does. I still strain to hear your voice every time that song is sung. I love the sound of your voice.

(It was during one of these practices, when you and I were practicing alone, in the chapel together, that your Bishop walked in on us and decided that you needed to “Marry that girl!”.)