Gettin' Old Eric turns 55

I have no regrets marrying this guy.  However,  he gets relentlessly teased by our family for a few things.  He cannot tell a story--my mind gets terribly scrambled when he starts to tell one of "his" stories.  The stories usually start in the middle, with a few of "then he .... and it went over there...." by the time he is done with the story, none of us have any idea what was just said.  Another annoying thing he gets constantly teased about is how he eats his popcorn at a movie theatre, NO ONE wants to sit next to him, he's loud and shovels it in his mouth like its his last meal--I can live with this, no problem--over the 30+ years I've know this guy I have not met anyone who does not love him, have never heard a curse word come out of his mouth, and he does not gossip but finds the good in people--thank you to his parents Viola and Ray Williams for instilling those qualities in him.

When I first met Eric it was not love at first sight, we met at an ASU singles dance.  Brent Stapley (who I really liked) introduced us, we danced, Brent went off to BYU married the love of his life Julie then Eric and I continued to date and eventually marry.  The night I came home from our 1st official date my mom asked me "so, what did you think of this guy?"  I said, "he's OK, I really like his family though"

As time went on and we dated on a regular basis, I began to see what everyone else saw this was a great man who wanted nothing more than to please his parents and family, he had a great love for his mother and father.  Over the next 3 years as we dated his mother became the biggest influence in my life.  Year after year when we did not get engaged on birthdays, or holidays I began to question whether this was right for me.  I will never forget a Christmas when Vi (erics mom) set me down and told me how much she loved me, and that she could see the sadness I was feeling, but told me not to give up on Eric.  I was given a blessing and I knew this was what I should do, but still it was frustrating.   We got engaged that year on Christmas day, the date was set for April 28th.  Vi went into the hospital in February and passed away 10 days later.  One day while I was visiting her, she was asleep and sat straight up stared me in the eye and said "no matter what happens to me, promise me you and Eric will get married"

We did, and we have experienced a lot of trials and hardships through the years, but with all of it we have truly become best friends, he was deeply compassionate with me when I was diagnosed with cancer and has continued to be my biggest fan and cheerleader during this fight.

I love you Eric and hope you love your Birthday--Paris here we come.