Michelle King, My Hero

This is my humble tribute to one of my own personal heroes. Michelle King and her husband embark on a new adventure this week. Steven has been called to preside over the Georgia Atlanta North Mission. Cheers to my hero as she departs this week on her mission....

Growing up in Iowa with aspirations to be a journalist I looked to Paula Sands (a local reporter) and Joan Lunden as my career role models for as long as I can remember. 6 years ago in 2002 I moved to Utah. Joan Lunden had long since retired and Paula would not be seen 1200 miles from her hometown of Moline, Illinois so I began a quest to find the best news in Utah. After a couple of years here my heart settled on Channel 2. Admittedly, it was initially because Michelle King reminded me of my great friend, Kara. I learned that Michelle had been a homecoming queen at BYU as she studied broadcast journalism there. In September of 2004 I was at a pivotal moment in my young life. I was making the decision to serve an LDS mission or begin my college studies in Broadcast Journalism. While discussing the decisions ahead of me, a freind said, "I work with Michelle on a charity committee every year and she's very nice. If you were to email her with your questions about school and a career in broadcasting I'm sure she'd answer them." I figured it a long shot that she'd even respond to an inquiry from a peasant such as myself but what did I have to lose? I sent her an email with several of my questions and she responded almost immediately with her phone number and extension telling me to call her and she would be happy to talk to me! She was so helpful and nice. It took me nearly a month to gain the courage required to dial her 7 digit telephone number...well, it was 11 digits if you count her extension. When I finally called her she suggested that I come up to the station to watch the broadcast..."Is this lady for real?" I thought. I am going to meet my hero, what do I wear? 2 days before my 21st birthday I had the opportunity to go to the station to watch the 10:00PM broadcast and meet Michelle King. I did have to buy a new outfit because I had absolutely nothing that was suitable to wear in her presence. Also, in anticipation of meeting her as I approached the big red doors at the station I suddenly had a nervous urge to vomit. I had never been so nervous in my life (and never was again until that time I took her cookies)! She turned out to be just as lovely in person as on the air. By the time I went to the station to visit I had already decided to serve a mission before I began school and I shared these plans with Michelle. As I left that night she asked that I keep in touch regarding my mission plans. A month later I received my mission call. I gave her a ring on the tele and paid her a visit at the station to tell her my exciting mission news. As we spoke for a few moments that evening I realized that she remembered anything I had ever told her about me! I felt very much like a VIP. A week later I received a card in the mail from her containing $20! What a thoughtful gift that meant the world to me.

A Temple Encounter:
After returning from my mission early I spent a lot of time at the temple, I didn't really want to be anywhere else. One day after spending some time in the temple I was leaving the parking lot in my car and I passed Michelle walking across the parking lot. As I approached her I hoped that she wouldn't recognize me out of fear of judgement due to my early return. But when I passed her she waved. GREAT! I stressed all day about whether or not she recognized me and if she did, what would she think....what if she thinks I got sent home because I was naughty??? Finally, I resolved to email her and tell her that I was home early due to medical issues. She responded saying the had thought it was me when she saw me and was also supportive and encouraging.

Women's Conference 2007:
In May of 2007 Michelle King was a presenter at BYU Women's Conference which I attended. Although her talk was about "Making Family Mealtime Fun" I still attended. She has a great sense of humor and kept us all laughing. My favorite quote, which has not been forgotten, was "Mom is not a slave slingin' hash". Before her talk I walked up and said hello to her. It had been since before my mission (2 and a half years) that I had talked to her in person but she still remembered me (or she did a fine job of pretending to remember)! She told me how great it was to see me again.

Dicks Market March 2008:
After going to the Bountiful Temple on a Friday morning in February I stopped at Dicks Market to get some medicine and some lunch to take to work. After paying for my merchandise I walked toward the only exit that was open. As I approached the exit I saw Michelle out of the corner of my eye coming toward the same exit at the same time! "Well hello Brooke! What are you doing up here, don't you live in Salt Lake?" I told her I had just been to the temple. We talked for a few moments and she asked me how I'd been. I asked if she was enjoying retirement unaware that they were then preparing and planning to serve a mission.

These are just a few of the chance encounters that I was privileged to have with Michelle King. I'm grateful for the brief opportunities that I have had to know her and to learn from her extraordinary example of a genuinely good human being.