Spring in Salt Lake City

[Marti Dickey Ashby]

Sometimes I still can't believe I live here. I didn't know anything about Utah when I was growing up and even less about Mormons. So what did I do? I became a Mormon (a Mo no mo, however), moved to the Mormon Mecca, finally finished school first with my bachelor's then later a Master's, both in painting. I married in the Temple (yep, I did) and had 4 children over the next however many years. I mean ... what?! This was not at all what I thought I would do. I always wanted to have kids, mind you. Just didn't think I would have Mormon kids. That word was not in my vocabulary.

First of all, I've always ALWAYS had a problem with authority. Um, guess what. Mormonism is riddled with the 'a' word. I have to say, I had a blast as a young woman here in Utah. I dated like crazy, and really, that is probably the most important thing, yes? I was a good Mormon, too. I was. No hellraisers allowed. ;)

I just had a fond memory. After I had joined the church in Roswell, New Mexico (you do see the link, yes?), I moved back to Ft. Worth after my divorce. The first time I went to church in FW, I ran into Ann Lowden. I'm smiling as I remember the conversation:

Ann: "Marti Dickey?! What are you doing here?"

Me:  "Well, um, I'm a Mormon now."

Ann: "You! No! You're were a hellraiser, and now you're telling me you're a Mormon?"

Then she proceeded to back up to the wall and said something like, "These walls are going to fall down around us, I can feel it."

We laughed and hugged. It was a lovely moment.

I wasn't that much of a hellraiser. I'm sure she's thinking of someone else. Pretty sure.

Anyway ... so here I am. And I still get chills when I see the mountains so close. They are amazing. 

I almost got away though. After my divorce (I know, my second) and finishing my Master's, I moved to New York City. I lived on the Upper West Side and loved my time there so much. I walked everywhere, loved riding the subway, visiting the Village, taking trains upstate to visit my then-boyfriend whom I met online (crap: I'm back online again), and worked with this amazing group of people who helped inner-city youth find the confidence to reach for heights they never considered before ... and achieve them (more about this later).

I thought I would live there for the rest of my life. However, I could not get even one of my kids to move east. I am a family person first and foremost. So ... after 3 years, I moved back to SLC. I'm now the proud Nana of 3 amazing grandchildren, starting a new business, more involved with my art than ever, and loving the hell out of everything. 

So now I'm enjoying Springtime in my city. It's beautiful. Just amazingly beautiful.

I'm also looking forward to our 50th reunion. This may be the most enjoyable one of all. 

[Kay Thompson Fields]

I totally get it Marti, I would so loved to have drunk the Kool Aid because of the fantastic amazing Mormons I have known.. Like I said my book is dedicated to my Mormon network

[Marti Dickey Ashby]

Kay, that's so interesting. You're right, I am no longer a Mormon. I don't regret my years on that path. I actually pretty much knew I probably should not have joined when I went through the temple. However, I loved my husband and was determined to make it work. Fortunately we moved to D.C. area where there was no temple at the time, thankfully. I gave it all I could for 30 years, but it just didn't take. Long story about my path, if you will, out of the church but for another time, perhaps. Through it all, though, I learned the importance of thinking for myself instead of having "the thinking done for me." I learned to speak in front of hundreds of people. The church provided the rub that formed a woman who believes, shall we say, very differently from her lovely, faithful, Mormon friends. The church actually helped form the rather radical woman I became ... but still adorable, of course. ;)

The best four events in my life came to me because I decided to become a Mormon: My four amazing children whom I love fiercely. And now that same path has made me the happiest Nana in the whole world.

My Mormon friends are the loveliest people. I'm nuts about them, and they still love their heretic friend. I still have no regrets about spending a goodly portion of my life in that strange religion. I have regrets about many things, but not that.

[Kay Thompson Fields]

omg, Marti, I simply cannot believe this.. My book is dedicated to My Mormon Network.. This is too too weird... Anyone I ever have a real affinity for is A Mormon.. Let me explain, my first real crush was Danny Mulkey(a Mormon, of course) When I lived in Mesa Arizona in the 70"s a totally totally(at the time) Mormon town, my daughter made a friend at gymnastics named Liesel Brown, Her mother and I became friends.. Of course Mormons/... My Daughter's best friend Haley Johnson married a laspsed Mormon... When Haley was first pregnant(has 4 kids.. you Mormons are competitive about having kids)she sought a deeper spiritual connection.. So, haley being Haley(has a masters from Wharton) researched it so thoroughly that Joseph Smith would have been impressed ..Haley prays etc and becomes a Mormon.. She is an executive with Continental Airlines and lives in Dallas, ga with her husband Brian and 4 kids.. So Courtney and Haley stay friends forever.. Haley and Brian camp in the Smokies every year as does Courtney and Avery.. So one year I came with them.. We camp on the NC side in a place near Bryson City called Deep Creek.. This is how I fell in love with this area.... So I know tons of Mormons through Haley and Brian and their kids are beyond amazing.. So I move to Tennessee and I meet my new nail tech, Michele Marie Ritter.. We are so compatible.. Of course she is Mormon.. She has a farm where I got my rabbits.. So she referred me to my doctor(Mormon) and my dentist(Mormon).. Yes I have totally researched the whole Mormon story and read word for word The Book Of Mormon.. Totally did not work for me. So are you still Mormon? I suspect not