Troy and Angela Rockwood

Troy always likes to say how he proposed to his wife the third time he saw her. So, here's the story.

I was going to school at BYU in Provo, Utah, when Troy came home from his two year mission in Japan. He came home late in June, and I first saw him just a few days later on the 4th of July. He had moved into the apartment building directly across from mine in apartment 30. Our ward wanted to watch the fireworks so we all got everyone together and walked up the hill just east of BYU to watch the fireworks display going on in the stadium. Up on the hill just beneath the Provo Temple was a great fireworks watching spot and we sat on blankets and played killer UNO together.

Later he came to our apartment door and introduced himself to all my roommates and offered to wash our windows. I didn't even recognize him from earlier but we let him wash our windows and he got to meet all the girls in our apartment. It was a fair trade. He had been out of the dating scene for two years and thought he'd better meet some girls if he was ever going to get a date. I remember that he had a lot of funny mannerisms that I learned later were leftovers from his time in Japan. He would always interrupt conversations nodding his head and saying "yep, uh huh, yes" etc. Other than that he was pretty quiet compared to the rest of the visitors to our apartment.

He caught my attention, because he was so shy, but we didn't see each other much, I was busy with my art classes and thought I was head over heels for a guy in our complex named Paul. He and I were in charge of the activities in our ward and I thought he was pretty neat. (Fortunately he paid me no mind but I thought I sure liked him.)

AN INSPIRED NUDGE

It was one day when I was just discovering the one-sidedness of my infatuation with this guy that my home teachers came over and visited with me. Typical of a home teacher's last words, they said "Well, is there anything we can do for you?" I was pretty depressed and being in the mood I was in I said, "You betcha. You just go find "Mr. Right" for me. I certainly can't seem to find him. That's what you can do...and have him bring a ring!" Well the next thing I know there's Troy silently grinning at my door with a 25 cent gumball machine ring (it was gold colored aluminum, adjustable, and had a green christmas tree on it). He slipped it on my finger and handed me a note that said "I'm Mr. Write."

Those home teachers of mine had probably spent two or three dollars in quarters at Smith's Grocery Store trying to get a ring for me so they could cheer me up. Troy told me later that they came up to him with this ring and said "here Troy, go give this ring to that girl down there in apartment three." When Troy looked reluctant and tried to get away they said, "Don't worry, it's a joke, it'll be funny. She needs it." and pushed him out the door "Oh yeah, and you're supposed to tell her you're Mr. Right!"

It did lift my spirits and we had a good laugh. So he didn't really propose to me the third time he met me, but it was a good start. It wasn't long after that incident that Troy's visits to our apartment were daily and we got to be fast friends. We'd take long walks all over campus. His shyness quickly wore off and he turned out to be quite a talker. Troy was interested in my painting classes and I liked hearing about his views of the world, what it was made of and how it worked(the physicist's main curiosity). We were poor students barely able to pay tuition costs and too busy with classes to organize official dates, so we never really went on a traditional date like a movie or dinner unless I cooked it. Our dates consisted of hikes, walks, picnics and long study hours in the library. What better way is there to get to know each other than talking and walking? We just liked being together. It was fall, and beautiful for being outside.

ENGAGEMENT

Our engagement was kind of crazy. We had gotten to know each other pretty well, and liked each other a lot. The question popped out one night as we were walking through the Joseph Smith Building looking at the painting exhibit there by Minerva Teichert. Troy told me he loved me, and I realized I felt exactly the same, and had felt so for some time. Somewhat out of the blue the question of marriage popped up. This surprised us both. Over the next weeks we talked about it, prayed about it, and after much intense thought and prayer-decided, YES! We would be married. Our Bishop must have seen the added glow in our faces because each time he shook my hand he'd turn it over and teasingly look for the ring. We didn't say much but just grinned. We set the date for the end of December after finals, and just a few days before Christmas. We hadn't known each other for long by normal standards, just two months. But we knew it was right and started the ball rolling. That was September.

Troy is a private person and doesn't like lots of questions especially prying ones like "So do you like her? Did you kiss her yet? When did you meet? You're getting married ALREADY??" So we hadn't told our roommates or anyone in our ward about our plans. My whole family knew though. It was nearly November before I found out that troy hadn't told his family anything yet, and he wasn't sure if they knew he was even dating anyone. We stopped right there, found the nearest pay phone and called them. Needless to say, they were quite surprised! They'd only recently heard from his sister Heather who lived in our complex with us, that he was dating someone. My parents knew all about it, and had sent us over to my Aunt Janetta's in Payson, Utah to get her seal of approval since they couldn't come out and meet him just then. Troy, of course, with sterling character and every bit the gentleman, passed the inspection with flying colors.

Troy's parents decided they'd better come out and see what this was all about in person. They came from Colorado for thanksgiving and we all got together and I got to "meet the fam". We spent a few days together at the Rockwood family cabin in Brighton, a beautiful place for introductions. We had a great time sledding and throwing snowballs. They were pleased that I seemed to be a nice girl and that their son was happy. The match seemed right to them too, we were relieved.

THIS TIME FOR REAL

One night I was waiting for Troy to finish studying at the library so we could go on a walk as we usually did, when he came flying in with great excitement and blindfolded my eyes. Then he led me out with all my roommates giggling and throwing mysterious hints. He put me in the car...MY car, took my keys and drove and drove...I had no clue what was so amazing that I had to wear a dish towel over my eyes. He's a funny one for surprises and would tell me nothing. When we finally stopped, he led me out of the car(still blindfolded). By then it was dark. He slipped a bright sparkly ring on my hand (the real kind this time) unwrapped my eyes to the beautiful sight of the Jordan River Temple bathed in winter lights and kissed me right there on the front lawn. By then nobody had to tell me, I already knew this was my Mr. Right.

My mother flew out from California to meet troy in person one week before the wedding. She and Troy got along great. Their personalities are very similar, I knew she'd like him. The rest of my family came out the day before the wedding. What a party! Nearly all my brothers and sisters were there(I'm the oldest of ten). He had written and talked with them on the phone before but meeting in real life was pretty exciting. Troy was quite a catch(we're talking present tense too!) and by the day of the wedding, they were convinced that I was getting a pretty good guy.

We finished our finals on Thursday and Friday morning we went to the Temple. The very first snow had happened that night and the morning was crisp and sparkling white, just like the temple. What an exciting and beautiful time! I had no doubts about our decision and the peace and joy that I felt was consuming.