Our Family - On Their Own

 by Cheryl Merrick

Having a birthday in the fall, David had to wait a year to start school, so he was almost 19 when he graduated from high school. He spent the summer after his graduation getting ready to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Shortly after he turned 19 in the beginning of September 1993, he left to serve in Columbus Ohio for two years.  

At that same time Julene, who just turned 20, decided that she also wanted to be off on her own. We helped her move into an apartment in Provo, Utah. She rode the bus to UVSC (Utah Valley State College - now UVU Utah Valley University) where she took classes and worked at the cafeteria. With the help of a dedicated math teacher, Julene received her Associates Degree. Later, she earned her Massage Therapist Degree. 

David returned from his mission in 1995 and moved into the apartment we had reserved for him in Provo to live with some other young men. His apartment was right across from the old BYU library in the center of town.

Starting in September of 1993, this left just Laura and Dan at home. In January of 1998, we helped Julene and Laura buy a condo in Provo where they could live together. Since Laura was unable to attend Springville High School because of all the construction going on in the buildings, she finished her high school classwork at UVSC. She took the bus from Mapleton to Orem each day to attend classes and graduated a year early at the age of 17. Julene became her guardian for a few months until Laura turned 18.  

In May of 2001, Laura married Theon Laney in the Timpanogos Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They lived in his grandmother’s basement apartment in Springville, then moved to Taylorsville in Salt Lake after they both graduated in Business Management. A few years later, Laura received her MBA (Masters of Business Management) and Theon became a stock broker.  In 2016, they moved to St George, Utah where Laura works from home in business management. They live just a few minutes away from our home.  

When Dan graduated from high school in May of 2002, he moved in with his brother David. They had the opportunity to live together for several months until David and Amy were married in the Timpanogos Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October. David received his Building Construction Degree a few years later. They bought a home and live in Pleasant Grove, Utah with their four children. David works in construction.

After David married, Dan bought a home in Orem near the mall where he lived and rented out rooms for income. In January of 2017, Dan eloped, marrying an old school friend, Wendy Tingey. They bought a home in Springville, Utah where they live with her three young children, Dan’s teenage son, Bryan, and their own little boy. He works in computer programming and management.