POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE... (Guest Blogger: Tim Marsden)

Today Melissa will graduate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She will formally accept her diploma and forevermore be listed in the annals of UNLV as an alumnus of the University. I am so proud of Melissa and I am impressed with her tenacity and determination. I am not surprised at all by this accomplishment but I am so thankful for it. When Adam and I had a talk before their engagement (nearly four years ago) I told him that it was very important to Margie and me that Melissa finish school. He assured me that it was also very important to him. I appreciate Adam’s love and support for my daughter as she fulfills not only her dreams but mine as well.

Melissa has always been a very smart girl from the very beginning. On her first birthday Margie and I made a list of words that she knew; we wrote down over 100 words and did not complete the list. She was very bright and learned things you didn’t even know she had learned. For example, when we woke up on Christmas morning of 1986 (she was 14 months old) we walked into Melissa’s room to see if she was awake. She was standing in her crib and when she saw us she exclaimed “Tanta, ho ho.”

She has always loved books. When she was in elementary school I began reading Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to her each year. It is not an easy book for a child (even for many adults) to read. I always tried to make it fun by doing the voices of all the characters. Many times we took turns reading but I think she liked it most when I read to her. This weekend she sent me a text of a photo of her reading the book to Hannah, carrying on the tradition.

I never let an opportunity to teach Melissa go by. When she was two years old we were driving to Salt Lake on a Sunday afternoon to visit Margie’s parents. We had our friends’ daughter with us (they were out of town) and she was about 2 or 3 months older than Melissa. As we drove by the refinery in North Salt Lake flame was shooting out of one of the stacks. This little girl said “fire burn.” We said “yes that’s right.” Then she said “like Abinadi.” We looked at each other absolutely stunned. Not to be outdone by our friends, on my lunch hour the next day I walked to Deseret Book and bought the “Book of Mormon Reader.” That night Melissa and I sat down to read about Abinadi.

I love you Melissa!! What you have accomplished has required discipline, dedication, sacrifice, determination, patience, faith, perseverance, intelligence, humility, and a lot of mental toughness. Today is the formal recognition of your achievement. There will be a lot of pomp and circumstance (as well there should be). Drink it in and soak it up; today is your day to stand up and be recognized.

Don’t ever forget the very first word you learned…. “Daddy.”