9/17/05 - 9/17/08

I can’t believe it has been three years! I feel very lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. With today being our third anniversary I have been thinking about when we met and how it all began. One day one of the girls in my ward asked me to go to the UCLA Institute Christmas Party and for some reason I said yes. Momoco and I attended Pasadena City College together so we knew each other but we did not normally hang out. Momoco was now going to UCLA and Ben and her had become friends. So Momoco and I went to the party and had a lot of fun. Later that week when I had my Home Teachers over I received a call from Ben calling to tell me how much fun it was meeting me at the Christmas Party. He went into detail about the conversation we had and what he was wearing but I just didn’t remember him. I felt so bad! However, in true Ben fashion, he was playing a joke on me. He never went to the party!! Apparently he was working that night.

Well, we finally met the next week at a New Years Eve Party in Redlands. Ben came with Momoco and I came with some of the singles in my ward. Ben was such a punk when we met. He told me that he was 18 and I could not tell if he was joking or not. Ben irritated me a lot when we first met but the worst was when he was laughing at me. I don’t remember why we went on the Ferris wheel but the four of us did. Ben went with Momoco and I went with my friend Ryan. I hate the Ferris wheel. I have always been scarred of them. I think it came from my parents thinking that they were death traps. So we were the only 4 people on the ride and then Ben and Momoco got off and I was happy because that meant that I would be getting off soon. But no, we kept going round and round. I later found out that Ben and Momoco had asked to be let off. I didn’t know you could do that so I had to go round and round until it stopped grabbing Ryan’s arm for dear life. I could see Ben and Momoco on the ground laughing so hard at me. I could not stand him. I was never so happy to be off a ride then I was that night. When we went on the roller coaster Ben sat behind me and kept on poking me. I felt like I was back in elementary school. For the first half of the night I could not stand Ben, he was either teasing me, laughing at me or poking me. I am not sure how Ben did it but somehow we became separated from our group. Ben became less of a punk when he finally stopped teasing me. After that we had a great time together.

We had our first date the very next day and it was the worst date that I had ever been on. At the end of our date Ben spent probably 30 minutes telling me why he could not see me again. I was fine with it but Ben did not think that I understood what he was saying so he would keep on explaining it. He could not understand why I was not getting upset at him. I never thought I would see him again. But, Ben started calling me and we really hit it off over the phone. Sometimes Ben would be on the phone with me driving to meet some other girls. Since Ben and I lived so far away from each other we would talk on the phone all the time. My parents had to change their phone plan because we would talk 5,000 minutes a month to each other. On one occasion Ben was at work and it was a slow night so he was talking to me on the phone. We got talking and for some reason I told him in so many words that I had a severe case of Crohn’s disease. I don’t know why I told him but I did. By this time I was really starting to like him and sadly I never expected to hear from him again. Guys had never been understanding of my health issues and I had witnessed many guys scared off by less serious matters. Ben later told me that he had never heard of Crohn’s disease and he actually thought I was referring to Huntington’s disease. After our conversation Ben went home and researched Crohn’s and learned all he could about it. He wanted to know how he could help me and perhaps what he could be getting himself into. Although, he didn’t yet know about my staff infections and other fun health issues. But, when something new has come up, thankfully he has always been there for me and unwavering in his support and love. He has never seen me as a girlfriend, fiancé, and now wife, who is sick with an incurable illness. He has always seen me as Esther and loved me for who I am. He has never put conditions on his love. In any case, soon after I told him about my health condition he asked me out on a second date. I later found out from him that it would be “the make or break it date.” Thankfully, we made it! It was funny because when Ben came to the door I answered but Ben didn’t quite recognize me because I had cut my hair and changed my hairstyle. My parents had the opportunity to meet him and we were off on our date. We went to Subway for a bite to eat and then went to see the first Work and The Glory movie. It was a fantastic movie and a better date. After that date we both knew we had something special. In just over two months from that date Ben proposed at the L.A. Temple and I happily and tearfully accepted. And after a 6-month engagement we were married for time and all eternity in the L.A. Temple in a beautiful ceremony performed by a wonderful and entertaining member of the Temple Presidency. I will always be grateful for the Lord’s hand enabling our paths to cross and most especially for the undeniable confirmation from the Spirit that marrying Ben was the right decision at the right time.