The Best of Friends

Warning: This will be a very LDS flavored post. If some of the stuff is confusing please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll get back to you when I can.

I've had the most wonderful 4 years of my life in Provo. This may take some people by surprise. I have the usual complaints about some of BYUs policies and how annoying the drivers are here. And don't get me started on singles wards, they are not what any sane person wants. But I love Provo, and for one basic reason. I love my friends here. It's hard for me to express how much my friends mean to me. I mean I should be sleeping right now, or putting the finishing touches on packing. But I need to record these feelings. I love my friends, they have made what could have been a very hard 4 years turn into the fondest years of my life to date. I'm sure I'll have better, I hope someday I find a nice girl to marry and have many happier years with her, but that doesn't decrease how awesome these years have been.

Most specifically I'm talking about my friends Jeff and Ben T. We met as randomly as is possible, at a pen and paper role playing game, where none of us really knew anyone else there. All we knew we had in common was the game. Over time we started hanging out, talking late at night. They were even comfortable with my best friend for life Kenny, with whom I went through Hell with, and they never seemed offended that he has that title for life. In truth I do love these two guys as much as I do Kenny (his wife Jen deserves mention as being in this top echelon of people who are awesome). It is not easy to be single in Provo, I'm not sure it's easy to live in Provo. These two friends with their kindness, likability, and generosity have made me feel like I have a family here.

As I spent time with this select group (and lets not forget Jeff's awesome and unforgettable wife Cyndi) tonight it all came back to me. They made Provo home to me. I hated it when Jeff and Cyndi moved to Las Vegas for awhile. I loathed Ben's trip to TN last summer. But even then our friendships have stayed strong, and we have always been there for each other. Jeff was my go to guy to talk about relationships with last summer despite living in a different state. Our friendship started because of a game, and has held many games in it, but my favorite moments, are nights like tonight. We sat, we talked, we ate some good food (Cyndi makes an AWESOME Cheesecake, I was scraping the remains off the plate to enjoy the flavor some more). These are my favorite nights even though in a lot of ways they're the hardest to remember.

This night I kept thinking to myself "This is amazing, and so much like my favorite nights with my family," which helped me realize how much I do love and miss being near my family. I also kept thinking about how blessed I am because I have tools like the Internet, cell phones, webcams, ect. to help me keep in contact with these amazing people. It's not the same, and it's always better to be able to see people in person, but it's a great blessing to be able to have the easy and quick access modern technology provides us.

I also couldn't help but think about the saying attributed to Josesph Smith (I'm too lazy to source check, but I think it actually was said by him) that heaven wouldn't be heaven without his friends is true. I can't imagine being happy in an afterlife where I can't spend time with my friends and family. It's the part of LDS doctrine that is so dear to me, the thought that I'm sealed to my family forever. I have hope that the above saying (or it's essence anyway) is just as true.

So I'm sorry to those people who didn't get much love in this post, but tonight it felt appropriate to record my feelings about Ben, Jeff and Cyndi. They have made this one of my favorite places on earth, due overwhelmingly to their contribution to my time here. I will miss being able to see you guys several times a week every week. Now I go to another stage of life, with my parents who I love and haven't spent near enough time with in the last 6 years, and who knows what will happen next?

Live up to now!

So I've been unsuccessful in finding employment in Provo and as I go about thinking and looking I've had a lot of generous offers from friends and family to stay with people. I've decided to go home and live with my parents again. It just feels right. I would have loved to go down to Texas and live with Ken and Jen, my two favorite people in the world, but this just feels like where I need to be. I don't know how long I'll be out of a job, I don't know a lot of stuff, so I figure going with a feeling is the best thing I can do right now. Plus I've lived away from home for 6 years now, I've never really reconnected with my parents after my mission, and it'd be kind of nice to have the opportunity to do so again.

Being the youngest I got to live several years at home when it was just me and my parents, and we got along very well, my father has always been wonderful about leaving most decisions up to me, just giving me advice. He's always trusted me and my judgment and that's made this decision to move home easier, knowing that my parents really do love and trust me. Plus it will be great to spend some time with mom, I miss our long talks, she really has been my best friend for long stretches of my life. Plus this way maybe I'll actually know what's happening with my family, since mom tends to be the central hub of family information (us Stair's are not very good about calling/writing each other, or in my case even keeping a blog.)

Also, despite how most of my siblings dislike the town, and the fact that there is pretty much nothing to do their, I do love Wilson. I spent 13-18 there, and I had a great time. I felt closer to God there then I think I did anywhere else during my life. No doubt this experience will be different now that I'm a grown up that is very much acclimated to a LDS culture, but I'm sure that I'll still be able to have some fun and prosper in this little southern town. And it won't be forever, eventually I'll get into graduate school and finish growing up the rest of the way and have the job I've wanted all these long years.

By the way, in my search for jobs I have found TONS and TONS of opening for fully licenced Speech Language Pathologists. So once I have my masters I have no fear of being able to find a job.