The Falling Part: David the Mormon

Journal Entry, 16 November 1985: 

There is a boy in the classroom next to mine at school that is really cute.  His name is David.  He has red hair, freckles, he is tall, and he is Morman!  I was suprised when I found out he was a Morman although he had the personality of a Morman.             Jenny -n- David
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"You're a Mormon?!" I responded with astonishment to my new sixth-grade friend.  I had no idea there were other kids who shared my faith at school.  In my hometown of Fallbrook, California, Mormon friends seemed few and far-between, and seemed to only be found at our meetings on Sundays. 

We were playing a casual game of Four Square on the playground during recess at La Paloma Elementary school, when this discovery created a spark and started the wheels in my head a-turning. 

As if his red hair and freckles (which incidentally resembled my own) weren't enough to turn my attention into affection, his announcement of sharing my faith was the clincher.

You see, at an early age my faith became very central to who I was becoming as a young person.  My parents were both active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, and together they did all that they could to share the blessings of membership with their children.  And I couldn't have been happier with this religious upbringing.

Knowing another Mormon friend could mean having common goals, common interests, and common experiences.  Each Sunday I looked forward to learning about Jesus and his gospel and all that his plan of happiness presented for my life.  I especially enjoyed the 2 hours spent with the other Primary children ages 12 and under where we had activities, lessons, and sang song after song.  Indeed, I found singing and the gospel to be one of my most favorite combinations (and even into my adulthood, I still feel the same way).

Although I knew of very few other Mormons at my school, if any, there did happen to be enough of them in our city of Fallbrook to form more than one congregation, which may explain why I had never seen David at church. 

David didn't seem to care much about the connection.  Oh well.  That didn't stop me from imagining our future together!  Not only could I envision being his girlfriend from now on (unbeknownst to him, that is...and I was willing to wait until he came around to the idea), but someday I could even be his wife.

What?!  How many nine-year-old girls are there who are having dreams about marriage already?  Well, I was one of those. 

It turns out, I have such a limited memory of young David outside of that day when I found out he was a Mormon, that it's clear he never came around to the idea of spending eternity with me.  Overall, I didn't spend too much time falling for David beyond the playground-time conversations, with one exception.

The final memory I have of my togetherness with David the Mormon is that we got to share a scene in our school play together.  He was Ebenezer Scrooge, and I was the Ghost of Christmas Past.

"Do you recollect the way?" was the line that I tenderly spoke to him on the stage, in front of all of our proud parents.

It's funny to think now that the terms "recollect" and "the little red-haired girl Jenny" from his sixth-grade year are two things that most likely do not go hand in hand for David.