Welcome to "the engines of my love," a regular review
of why I love you, Martha Ellyn Sharp Nelson, and no
other woman.
I love you because you were with me (at least you were with me inside
of my overly active and creative mind) as we returned to civilization.
On Wednesday, we finished the river trip, flew back to Moab, drove to
Gunnison, and all five of us ate at a Subway Sandwich shop. Roice and
Ben and Sarah headed out for Cedar City and Rob and I went to Manti.
We stayed in a Mom & Pop motel across the street from the Manti Temple.
The room had fake flowers on fake columns, with a big heart above a
queen sized bed. The big issue about the bed was how much Rob snored
on this trip. He dried out and kept everyone awake. While I read
on Wednesday evening he went to the Carnaval we had gone to in Panquich
the previous Saturday night. He was a happy camper.
I got up about 6:30, shaved, showered, packed, and put my suit on.
Then I walked across the street and up the hill and went to the first
Endowment Session Thursday morning. I was the only non-temple worker
in the session and was again asked to join the prayer circle. I again
thought of you. Once again there were words which cut to my heart.
I don't remember them as I write this, but I remember the feeling. I
remember the comfort, the hope, the light, and the truth I experienced.
I hope for the time and, in the vein of hope, look forward to when you
will join with me in experiencing these same feelings.
Rob wasn't ready when I got back to the room. We finally left about
10:00. He was pretty quiet all the way to Salt Lake City. It was really
funny to hear his reaction to my phone call with Ray Levey and Bob Erhlich
about the river trip and about the idea of turning the river trip into
a virtual reality experience at the AAPG and eventually into a game for
Nintendo-64. I already sent you a description of this conversation in
Thoughtlet #9711. We have neat kids.
I had thought Rob and I might drive up Provo Canyon to Heber and see
Uncle Glenn since the Covey people were out of town and did not have time
to visit us. However, Bob Erhlich had set aside the entire afternoon with
his assistant Glenn to visit with me. We got to Salt Lake at 1:00 PM and
drove straight to the Energy & Geoscience Institute. I called on the cell
phone as we were going down Foothill Boulevard and Dr. Erhlich and Glenn
met us at the front door. They took us to a nice restaurant up Emigration
Canyon for lunch. Rob didn't eat much, but he seemed to enjoy the
conversation. When we got back to the Institute they set up a room for
him and he read his comic book all afternoon. It was a good afternoon.
I will be doing a lot of work with these folks over the coming years.
They basically invited me to come to work for them full-time. When you
recognize how much I love you, keep this in mind as an option. Right
now I told them my commitment is to my kids and to being the best Dad
I possibly can be under the circumstances. I love my kids and, believe
it or not, I love you.
I'm interested in sharing why I love you. I know how important
the written word is to you, and if you ever feel neglected,
ignored, or unloved, and would like an up-to-date bound copy of
these lovelets or any subset of these lovelets for any purpose
you might have come to mind, please tell me or e-mail your request
to rnelson@walden3d.com with the request 'lovelet update.'
With all my love,
Roice