On the sweetness of Mormon life.

It’s Saturday evening, and you need to do some ironing for Sunday and the week. Your wife, your lovely one, says, “do you remember when you ironed on one of our dates?” You don’t. She tells you.

It was one of your first dates, but after you both had already seen where the dating was going. You called her up and said you couldn’t take her out that night, you had ironing to do. But you’d like her to come talk to you while you ironed. She did.

“I told you I didn’t like ironing because of the burnt starch flakes,” she said, “and you talked about solving the problem with letting the starch soak in, spraying with water before ironing, and using the right starch. You talked a lot about starches. You were pretty nerdy about starches.” She smiles. “I liked you a lot when you were nerdy about starches.”

You have just finished reading the last chapter of Cheaper by the Dozen to your children, so you are in the mood for melancholy. You miss being nerdy about starches. You miss even remembering that you used to be nerdy about starches.

It means much that this woman has remembered for you.