My funniest experience at school was my last final of Fall Semester 2010. The final was at 7:00 a.m. and it was about 10 degrees outside when we parked in the parking lot. My roommate and I were walking toward the building and my phone went off as I received a text. I thought that for sure it would be someone wishing me luck on my last final, as it was so early in the morning. Lo and behold, it was my trusty bodyguard Johnny texting me what I think was meant to read "once an old fart, always an old fart." Instead it read "wants a old fart always a old fart." It was hard to keep my mind on the upcoming exam with thoughts of Johnny's random comments and messages running through my head. He always makes me laugh!
Each summer finds us camping in the Adirondacks. This year Richard joined us for the first time in five years. Day in and day out we fished. This particular morning my dad and I were in one boat and Brent and Richard occupied the other. After hours of fishing we decided to go meet up with their boat around the corner of the lake. Richard is standing up in the back of the boat seeming to be searching for something. To me it looks like they are drifting through lily pads and his 12' telescoping pole (with no reel) is behind him because I can see his bobber floating. As we get closer, the bobber is moving further and further away from the boat. When we are about 200 ft from them I call out and ask if he lost his pole because his bobber is moving away from them. He nearly falls out of the boat as he says "where!? where is it?"
Turns out he caught a 4.5 lb Largemouth Bass which snapped the line instantly. Luckily it broke above the bobber so we could chase him around the pond. It was really neat to watch it dive down 10 feet and pop into view 30 feet away. Incredibly enough it kept coming to shallow water instead of diving down into the middle of the lake, and once we cornered it in a downed tree, we were able to scoop him out of the water with a net.
This story had the makings of a comic strip running through my head from start to finish. = )
My sister received her report card today and it made me think of this.
A Dad passing by his son's bedroom,
was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then, he
saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was
addressed, 'Mum.'
With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope
and, with trembling hands, read the letter...
"Dear, Dad. It is with great regret and sorrow
that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend, because I
wanted to avoid scene with Mum and you. I've been finding real passion
with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of
her, because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle
clothes, and because she is so much older than I am.
But it's not only the passion, Mum. She's pregnant.
Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer
in the woods, and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We
share a dream of having many more children.
Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana
doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for
ourselves, and trading it with the other people in the commune for all the
cocaine and ecstasy we want.
In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find
a cure for AIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves
it!
Don't worry Dad, I'm 15, and I know how to take
care of myself.
Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit, so you
can get to know your many grandchildren.
Love, your son, Joshua
PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at
Jason's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in
life than the school report that's on the kitchen table.
Nuts. This kid is nuts. Inspirational would be my one word to describe him, but I've got many of them. I've been around Junior for the past 4 years and 4 months. Optomistic, friendly, happy. Nothing stops him and only one thing I've seen has let him down; Mamma Fevanga's absence from the U.S. for the past few years, but who wouldn't be sad about that?
Moving into an apartment with a great roommate Austin Mulleneaux, who had already befriended Junior (as had everyone in the building). I got to see a lot of Junior at activities and frequently just hanging out at our place. We had a building intramural basketball team and Junior was our mascot and most loyal fan. A rowdy group of freshman, we would always pile into Junior's van and blast some Bob Marley on the way to our game, as we were The Wailers.
We went to:
volleyball games
basketball games
rugby games
soccer games
kickball games
parties
visit friends in Tooele
Vegas
shopping
emergency Room
lifted
went skydiving on his 30th birthday
ATE ATE ATE
concerts
swimming
seven peaks
skiing
chilling outside
watched movies
watched movies while eating (Walking Dead)
laughed, talked, joked, laughed some more
took classes together
studied stats together
bowling and bowling class
garage sales
I feel like I know Junior pretty well. I can usually finish his sentences for him or relay his thoughts just from a look in his eye. He certainly knows me better than anyone because we did a lot of talking and got into deep down mushy gushy crap.
Here we are graduating together. Glad I was lucky enough to be at Convocation with him! Junior had a standing ovation from thousands of people when he walked at his commencement. I'm positive he was the only one. I'm now sitting in a car looking out the window at a green, beautiful landscape. Junior, I won't miss Utah but I will miss seeing your face all the time! Go get a job, work your butt off, and spend some monies you inspirational, hard working fool.
