Our Wedding Day

Recorded from the personal Journal of Linda Sue Pulsipher dated August 15, 1982

Gary and Linda were married on August 7, 1982. We had planned to take our endowments out on Friday afternoon, and Linda would go through for the first time. On Friday we left at about 1:00 hoping to be there by 3:45-4:00. Gary and I took HW 5 the whole way instead of turning off on HW 405. When we finally realized we were in the wrong place at about 3:30, some men told us it would take a good 45 minutes to an hour to get where we were going. We wouldn’t make it. Anyway, when we got on the right road, time was getting short and we were getting pretty worried but we made it there by 4:00. I had to be there by 4:15 to go through for the first time, but the others didn’t need to be there until 6:00. When we (my mother and I) first got there to register they made feel really bad that Gary wasn’t with me, like I was missing out on something really neat. I still don’t know what they were talking about. I didn’t miss out an anything. The temple was a good experience. I was calm and everything went really smoothly. We stayed at the temple apartments that night. It was planned for both families to go out to dinner together, but we took 2 cars and barely made it out of the parking lot before we were separated, so I ate with Gary and his mom and dad, while my mom and dad and grandma ate somewhere else. Saturday morning, Gary and his folks went to an early morning session, while my family and I prepared our selves for the wedding. We had a sealing room reserved for 10:00. I didn’t wear by wedding dress in the temple, but I am glad I didn’t, it just doesn’t seem appropriate for the temple. President Knudson married us, and we had a few friends there, Matt, Rita, Gary’s bishop and a couple from his ward. It was small, but it couldn’t have turned out better. Gary and I had the opportunity before we were sealed to do some work for the dead, sealing children to parents. It was pretty neat and kind of calmed my nerves a little bit. After the wedding ceremony, Gary and I changed into our tux and wedding gown and came through the back door of the temple for about an hour of pictures. Then, both families, grandma and Matt all went out to lunch. It was really nice and relaxing. We made it back to San Diego at about 4:30; we had to be at the reception by 6:00 for more pictures. Gary and I had just enough time to relax a little and get ready for the reception. The line formed at 7:00 and we had people straight for two hours. I couldn’t believe it. The cake was beautiful and the food was good. The line looked great. Everything went so smooth and perfect we couldn’t believe it. The only thing that went wrong is that we found out the address of the institute on the invitations was wrong. Oh well!

The Honeymoon: That night my dad paid for our room at the Little American Westgate. We stayed in room 1294. It was really nice. The next day we had Kirk, Lis and Mike come pick up our car and take us to the airport. We flew to Las Vegas and had a limousine van escort us to the Dunes. When we got there they told us they didn’t have any rooms due to a cancelled flight and to come back in an hour. A lot of people were being sent to the Sands and being put in studios. We were getting pretty mad and worried, but everything worked out. They put us in a corner room in the new tower, room #3801. It was really nice, nicer that the Westgate that cost 4 times as much. While we were there, we mostly ate, saw a movie at the MGM, visited nearby hotels, went to the Omnimax and went to the pool. We gambled a little, won and lost and came up about $5 short. We came home Tuesday and both families came over for ice cream and to open presents, over 100! Wow!

Married August 7, 1982

Gary and Linda Pulsipher were married in the Los Angeles Temple August 7, 1982. We drove up to the temple the day before with our parents and stayed at the temple apartments. Linda took out her endowments on friday and the sealing took place saturday morning. It was a very good day, we were happy and in love. Gary and I drove back to San Diego together to get ready for the reception at the San Diego State Institute. It was simple, but we were happy and didn't care, because we were married. We left that evening for our honeymoon in Las Vegas.

Pre-Married Years

Recorded by Linda Pulsipher (written in 1994) 

Pre-Married Years

Gary and I met when I was 16 and he 18. I lived in La Jolla and he in El Cajon. We met at the LDS church youth dances. He actually had a liking for my best friend Patty Gwin, we were always together. But, at one particular dance, she was not there, so he asked me outside and questioned me as to her whereabouts. This was the first time we spent any time talking with one another and I guess we both enjoyed it because at the Mormon night at the Padre game, unbeknownst to each other, we had both been looking for each other. When we finally spotted each other, we were able to enjoy the rest of the game together. I don’t remember the game, only how excited I was to have found Gary and to be sitting with him. Gary made a call to my house that week when I wasn’t home and talked to Maria, asking her if she thought I would go out with him, she assured him that I would! He called later and asked me out and the “first date” was set. I was so excited, he was wearing a light blue turtleneck with light pants and blue shoes, I was wearing a Hawaiian print shirt, white skirt and red shoes. We looked good (at least to each other anyway)! From the very start, Gary was so easy to talk to, I was never uncomfortable, and he was so easy to be with. (Me being a somewhat shy, non-verbal person that was really something!) We went to dinner (Chuck’s steak house), for a walk along the Cove and later a movie (Foul Play with Goldie Hawn). We both had a great time and continued to see each other after that. Soon we found out that we were related, our great-grandfathers married sisters, making us third cousins. We just found this somewhat amusing, nothing else, as we were much to young to think about being married anyway. We continued to see each other for the next nine months, usually every weekend and then on Tuesday, as well. We did live 25 minutes away from each other, so it was a good drive. Gary and I always got along extremely well; we enjoyed each other’s company and liked being together when ever possible. The only problem we did have is our friends never did get along with each other to well. So we really didn’t do things as a group to often. Maria dated Kirk for a time, but that was even worse, Gary and I were like the responsible parents trying to keep them out of trouble, thank goodness that didn’t last very long. Gary and his friends had somewhat of a different sense of humor than my friends and myself. I eventually got used to it, although I am not sure if anyone else ever did. (If you know Gary’s family and friends, you know what I am talking about.) Gary left for his mission in June 1979, on my birthday I believe. This was somewhat upsetting for me as Gary and I had become quite close, needless to say everyone that was at the airport that day would remember the total fool I made of myself, in retrospect, I should not have been there that day. We continued to write through his mission remaining somewhat close through letters. I found it difficult to think of other guys in terms of dating as my heart was with Gary. We never discussed me waiting for him or anything, for me nobody else could compare. Gary served a good mission and I finished high school and then went on to Ricks for a year. Looking back, perhaps we should not have written so much. It was Gary’s time to serve the Lord with a singleness of heart and my time to educate myself and meet new people. We missed each other a great deal; perhaps some of that pain could have been avoided if we didn’t write so much, perhaps not? Two years is a very long time, when Gary returned home, we were two different people, in spite of the fact that we had remained so close through letter, Gary felt the need for more space but at the same time our relationship picked up where it left off, which left me somewhat confused. Gary and I both have different opinions as to what the problem was, but I decided it was best for me to leave for awhile. Maria and I went to BYU Hawaii or a semester, leaving Gary all the space he needed. I had a great time in Hawaii, enjoying the sun and surf, somewhat confused about my relationship with Gary, I still cared for him very much and we wrote and my friends kept me informed on what they saw of him at dances, etc. I didn’t date in Hawaii, what can I say, nobody asked. But Gary did, and at some point I guess he realized he really wanted to be with me. When I returned from Hawaii, it had been six months since Gary got home from his mission. Our relationship started up again, the way it was before he left. We had great times with each other and a closes that continued to pull us together. We continued to date again for 9 months before we were married. Gary had a lot of school ahead of him and we were young, Gary was 22 and I 20. I remember one particular day, a discussion we had, we had become very close, so close that we were afraid of moral transgression, we could only think of two choices, put more space between us or get married. Neither of us cared for the thought of any more space between us, so the only other alternative was to get married. I think that is about as close to a proposal as we got. He did give me a promise ring when I returned from Hawaii, and then later we upgraded to a somewhat larger diamond, but being the practical people we were (are) we decided it was best to save our money for more important things (like food and rent). To this day, I am still waiting for the diamond ring I have always dreamed of (we have been married for 12 years, as I write this). I do remember another particular day when we were at his house that we picked a day to be married, and that is when, I believe, that we announced it to our families. We were married in the Los Angeles temple August 7, 1992. We held our receptions and the LDS Institute building at San Diego State. There were many, many people, and it was very nice and beautiful. In retrospect I only would have changed two things, the building (it was halfway between our homes so we decided it would be best, but I regret the orange carpeting and drapes that seemed to clash with everything) and I would have picked out my own bridesmaid dresses, (I let them go with me and give the their input but it’s not what I would have chosen). Other than those two things, it was a beautiful reception and Gary and I were very happy. That night we stayed in a hotel downtown and in the morning we left for Las Vegas where we spent 2 more days on our honeymoon. (Still being very practical people, it was a very cheap honeymoon!) But we had a great time and wouldn’t have changed a thing!