Five Years Ago

Five years ago today was a special day for me.  It was the day that marked the culmination of four and a half years of hard work, and I was proud of myself for what I had accomplished.  My classmates, peers, and friends gathered together in robes and silly hats and waited for their turn to walk across a stage, their name scrolling across a large screen, to collect a piece of paper in front of a crowd of hundreds of people, filled with their own friends and families.

On that day, five years ago, I was not in a robe. I was not in the auditorium.  I was not with my classmates, and none of my family was in the audience.  I remember I was sitting in a chair in a building on campus we referred to as the Institute.  The Institute is a building that only a very small percentage of Purdue students know about, and yet it will always be the most special one over there to me.  The students who are lucky enough to discover it find a safe haven, a place to study, eat, nap, laugh, socialize, fall in love, take religion classes, and even attend church on Sundays.  I'm sure I spent many more cumulative hours there than anywhere else on campus during my years at Purdue University.

And even on the day of my college graduation that's where I sat.  Waiting for something even more exciting and important to me to happen.  In eleven days I was going to marry my favorite person in the world, and I was going to marry him in the Nauvoo temple.  And I was much more caught up in thinking about wedding dresses than graduation robes.

 

this picture is from here.

In order for that to happen though, first I had to meet with a couple of people, who would make sure that I was living in a certain way, because only those who are willing to make and keep the promise to live this way can enter this building.  I waited in the chair and reflected on my life.  I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't gamble, I keep myself morally clean, I am honest in my interactions with others, I donate 10% of my income, and I do my best to be the best person I can be.  I was ready for this interview.

You might be wondering why I scheduled my interview for the exact same time as my college graduation.  Yes, a good question.  The man that I had to see is an incredibly busy man, and when the time came for me to schedule an appointment with him, he was gone to various places in Europe all but a few days out of that entire month.  I couldn't be terribly choosy, he did after all also have a family that wanted to see him at least a little bit the few days he was home.

And not once in five years have I regretted missing my graduation.  Every single day for five years I am glad that I sat in that chair and waited.  It has been a beautiful five years.

If you want to know more about the temple and why it was so important to me to go there, click here.