My Brother is GONE and Festival of Trees
This past week, I spent three of the five weekdays working with Festival of Trees. One of the other days was spent in getting my brother to his mission. I share a few thoughts about these experiences with the class.
First, my brother. I am quite close to all my siblings, but I think I may have always been the closest to Caleb. For many years, I called him my best friend, and it still might be true. From our days as the King and Queen of the wonderful country known as Haca, to that time I had to give him the money at the movie theater to buy our tickets to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because they didn't believe that I was thirteen (even though he is younger than I am), I have always gotten along well with Caleb. And this isn't to say that we never disagreed, but if we were mad at each other, we were remarkably good at walking away and then thirty-minutes later coming back and being completely happy with one another again. I didn't always have that skill with other siblings. Having him at BYU with me my last year and his first year was one of the happiest times I could have. I really will miss him a lot while he's on his mission. Just the other day, I heard something on the radio during my long commute to work and thought, "I'll have to tell Caleb that!" Then, I remembered that he went into the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, and will be a missionary serving in Brazil for the next two years. The sound of a cello just breaks my heart, because Caleb is an amazing cellist. It's not even been a week, and I miss him. Of course I'm so excited that he's made that decision. I know that this is what the Lord has asked him to do, and I know that the people of Riberao Preto, Brazil will be eternally blessed by all the love and work that he will put into their lives (and I found out that my Brazilian coworker has an aunt who lives in Riberao Preto), but at the same time, I miss him dearly.
Second, Festival of Trees. I had a good time at Festival of Trees. Yes, I had to stand for six hours at a time, and yes, people commonly asked me what highschool I went (as most hosts were there with highschool leadership groups), but it was fun and amazing. The trees were fully elaborate, and the gingerbread houses, wreaths, quilts and centerpieces were equally so. My last night, I got to guard one especially valuable tree for three hours straight. It had sports memorabilia all over the display, and all of it was autographed! So, I was told to not take my eyes off of that one tree. I'm thinking it probably sold for a lot. I also became a model for promotional shots. So, I might end up in promotional pictures for next year. Who knows? I was also glad to be able to learn about each of the trees and the people to whom they were dedicated. It did weird me out that one of the trees was dedicated to a dog that had died (and that's one of the trees that hadn't sold yet, so try talking that one up to potential buyers), but most of them were gorgeous stories. And it was all for a good cause!
Well, until I write my next book review (which may be tomorrow or the day after), farewell!
First, my brother. I am quite close to all my siblings, but I think I may have always been the closest to Caleb. For many years, I called him my best friend, and it still might be true. From our days as the King and Queen of the wonderful country known as Haca, to that time I had to give him the money at the movie theater to buy our tickets to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because they didn't believe that I was thirteen (even though he is younger than I am), I have always gotten along well with Caleb. And this isn't to say that we never disagreed, but if we were mad at each other, we were remarkably good at walking away and then thirty-minutes later coming back and being completely happy with one another again. I didn't always have that skill with other siblings. Having him at BYU with me my last year and his first year was one of the happiest times I could have. I really will miss him a lot while he's on his mission. Just the other day, I heard something on the radio during my long commute to work and thought, "I'll have to tell Caleb that!" Then, I remembered that he went into the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, and will be a missionary serving in Brazil for the next two years. The sound of a cello just breaks my heart, because Caleb is an amazing cellist. It's not even been a week, and I miss him. Of course I'm so excited that he's made that decision. I know that this is what the Lord has asked him to do, and I know that the people of Riberao Preto, Brazil will be eternally blessed by all the love and work that he will put into their lives (and I found out that my Brazilian coworker has an aunt who lives in Riberao Preto), but at the same time, I miss him dearly.
Second, Festival of Trees. I had a good time at Festival of Trees. Yes, I had to stand for six hours at a time, and yes, people commonly asked me what highschool I went (as most hosts were there with highschool leadership groups), but it was fun and amazing. The trees were fully elaborate, and the gingerbread houses, wreaths, quilts and centerpieces were equally so. My last night, I got to guard one especially valuable tree for three hours straight. It had sports memorabilia all over the display, and all of it was autographed! So, I was told to not take my eyes off of that one tree. I'm thinking it probably sold for a lot. I also became a model for promotional shots. So, I might end up in promotional pictures for next year. Who knows? I was also glad to be able to learn about each of the trees and the people to whom they were dedicated. It did weird me out that one of the trees was dedicated to a dog that had died (and that's one of the trees that hadn't sold yet, so try talking that one up to potential buyers), but most of them were gorgeous stories. And it was all for a good cause!
Well, until I write my next book review (which may be tomorrow or the day after), farewell!
Comments