Each year I reunite with my two best friends from college for a few days of snowboarding, reminiscing and fun. It used to be four of us but life caught up with us three years ago and and our fourth companion, Mat Burnett, lost his fight with cancer. He's not with us in body but always in spirit. Joe, Scott and I, the three that remain, no longer take or time together for granted.
DAY 1 - Getting Out Alive
Leaving for any trip has taken on a specific ritual in my house. My older two kids act like they don't care while my younger two cling to me and cry. I think the more the younger ones protest the more the older ones distance themselves from me. It's kind of how the universe stays balanced I guess. For every person that cares about me there needs to be one that specifically doesn't. Just kidding. I know the older two love me. It breaks my heart to know that someday the younger two will stop being sad when I leave. Stephanie, as always, just supports me in whatever I have going on. She gives me a big kiss that makes me not want to go and instead just stay and hangout with her. While I don't look forward to getting older, I do look forward to retiring someday and just hanging out with Steph.
We play a few rounds of games prior to my leaving so we can be together. There is nothing like it. The fun and laughter from my whole family playing together is intoxicating. Put aside for the moment are the dishes left undone, reminders about homework and the constant bantering that comes with a house full of children. It's Kate, the vibrant eight year old, that lightens the mood. Her constant calls of , "Boom! That's how I roll cuz I'm a Humphreys" when she performs well in the game we're playing that get the rest of us going. You'd never know from her shy facade outside of the house that she is a firecracker of comedy. She gets that from her brother I think, he's the same way. Families are the best and I believe that it's not random chance that we are born into families. I believe that it's be divine design that we are in families are only in a family unit can we receive the help we need to achieve our potential and only in families can we learn to love others more than ourselves. I love my family.
The games last longer than we intended and I run to get my gear and get on my way. Why does it always seem like I'm late in getting to the airport? I'm rushing to get on the road and I'm not outside my neighborhood when I felt a very clear disturbance in the force. You know, the kind that tells you that you've just left behind something very important. I start going through my list of essential items:
DAY 1 - Getting Out Alive
Leaving for any trip has taken on a specific ritual in my house. My older two kids act like they don't care while my younger two cling to me and cry. I think the more the younger ones protest the more the older ones distance themselves from me. It's kind of how the universe stays balanced I guess. For every person that cares about me there needs to be one that specifically doesn't. Just kidding. I know the older two love me. It breaks my heart to know that someday the younger two will stop being sad when I leave. Stephanie, as always, just supports me in whatever I have going on. She gives me a big kiss that makes me not want to go and instead just stay and hangout with her. While I don't look forward to getting older, I do look forward to retiring someday and just hanging out with Steph.
We play a few rounds of games prior to my leaving so we can be together. There is nothing like it. The fun and laughter from my whole family playing together is intoxicating. Put aside for the moment are the dishes left undone, reminders about homework and the constant bantering that comes with a house full of children. It's Kate, the vibrant eight year old, that lightens the mood. Her constant calls of , "Boom! That's how I roll cuz I'm a Humphreys" when she performs well in the game we're playing that get the rest of us going. You'd never know from her shy facade outside of the house that she is a firecracker of comedy. She gets that from her brother I think, he's the same way. Families are the best and I believe that it's not random chance that we are born into families. I believe that it's be divine design that we are in families are only in a family unit can we receive the help we need to achieve our potential and only in families can we learn to love others more than ourselves. I love my family.
The games last longer than we intended and I run to get my gear and get on my way. Why does it always seem like I'm late in getting to the airport? I'm rushing to get on the road and I'm not outside my neighborhood when I felt a very clear disturbance in the force. You know, the kind that tells you that you've just left behind something very important. I start going through my list of essential items:
- Wallet - Check
- Underwear - Check (#1 rule of life = change you underwear every day)
- iPod - Check
- 7 in Android tablet - Check
- 10 in Android tablet - Check
- 14 in Chromebook - Check
I was at the end of my list of essentials (yes, they are the essentials) when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Where is my cell phone?!?! I follow the procedures for having a heart attack while driving. I take my foot off of the accelerator, I drift to the side of the road, I remind myself to breath. I hastily throw my car into park, jump out and proceed to empty my backpack looking for my lifeline to the world. Chromebook, two tablets, three chocolate bars (I'm kind of on a chocolate kick thanks to a recent gift of chocolate from Stephanie) but no phone. I race back to my house screaming the whole way in, "Someone call my cell phone! I need to find my cell phone!" It was in the farthest reaches of my house. I hoof it upstairs, retrieve it and get back on the road. With my gear tightly packed away, I'm off for my adventure. First stop, Phoenix airport.
It's always fun to come to Phoenix. My parents and three siblings are all there plus I attended Arizona State for my graduate studies. I look out the windows of the airport across the various shades of brown and remember how much I love the desert. If only I had a longer layover and I could leave the airport. But that's not in the cards today. Today I just have enough time to grab a bite to eat and get on my flight to Salt Lake.
I have several options to choose from but for some reason I just HAVE to have a hamburger. I find myself at the counter ordering a burger with the works and fries. I tell myself that I'll make better choices the rest of my flight and somehow justify this artery clogging meal. As I get down to my final bites, I find myself in deep regret. I stumble out of my seat and tell myself I can just walk it off. Unfortunately, there weren't enough hours (or days) available to me to walk that meal off so I did the best I could and headed over to my boarding gate. One thing I've learned from my travels is that you never take your boarding gate for granted. Those suckers change all the time on you so you have to pay attention.
Song for this part of my trip include:
I have several options to choose from but for some reason I just HAVE to have a hamburger. I find myself at the counter ordering a burger with the works and fries. I tell myself that I'll make better choices the rest of my flight and somehow justify this artery clogging meal. As I get down to my final bites, I find myself in deep regret. I stumble out of my seat and tell myself I can just walk it off. Unfortunately, there weren't enough hours (or days) available to me to walk that meal off so I did the best I could and headed over to my boarding gate. One thing I've learned from my travels is that you never take your boarding gate for granted. Those suckers change all the time on you so you have to pay attention.
Song for this part of my trip include:
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