Has it Really Been 30 Years?
Thirty years ago I was a little twelve year old, uprooted from the only home I could really remember, and tossed into a new house, a new ward, and a new school. And in the whirlwind of adjusting to a new home, I met Tabitha. She was close to my age, petite with a round face and a cloud of bouncy, curly black hair, and she literally bounced when she walked. She quickly became my best friend. She lived around the corner from me and frequently we walked home from school together, and we had an ongoing joke about "walking her to the corner" while never exactly specifying to which corner we were walking the other - there were three street intersections between our homes. We wrote notes to each other. We had a little black book that we would write in and pass back and forth. Over time, I developed other friendships, but Tabitha was always one of my close friends.
Eventually we graduated from high school, and while we both went to BYU, we lived at opposite ends of campus and so we saw each other much less frequently. Then she got married. I went on a mission. We moved to different parts of the country. Nowadays, we don't see each other very often. I'm not very good at keeping in touch. She has eleven kids, and she home schools. But every once in a while we are able to get together and renew our acquaintance. She lives in Missouri now, near where my sister Kristy lives so last Thanksgiving when we were staying at Kristy's home, we were able to get together with Tabitha one day.
Last week, Tabitha and her family came to spend the night with us. They had been on a long vacation, and our home is conveniently located between Utah and Missouri, so Tabitha had asked if they could spend their last night on the road with us. When she first asked, I looked around our cozy three bedroom condo with our five at home, and then pictured their family of thirteen here as well and wondered how we could make it work. Tabitha assured me they didn't mind sleeping on floors, and I really was looking forward to seeing her, so I agreed to it.
In the days before they arrived, I set about cleaning up the boys' room. We would need to pick up the clutter on the floor and move the bunk bed if there was to be room for anyone on the floor in there. The week before Tabitha's arrival, my brother Joey spent the night on a mattress on the floor in John's room due to an overnight lay-over in Denver, and the mattress was still there, so I asked John to wash the bedding.
And then the day arrived. They arrived in the evening having already eaten dinner elsewhere - just Tabitha, her husband and nine kids since one is on a mission and another was elsewhere. We talked and enjoyed each other's company. The older kids quickly became wrapped up with mine in creating D&D characters. The younger ones dashed here and there looking at my crochet creations, playing the piano, drawing pictures and chasing the cats. One little girl ran around in circles for several minutes while repeating, "I'm almost tired!"
We put most of the boys, including John, to bed on the floor in Josh and Peter's room. The girls slept in John's room, with the oldest on the bed and the three little girls sharing the mattress on the floor. The oldest boy slept on the floor in the living room, where Tabitha and her husband slept on the couches. I hope the cats didn't walk over them too much in their sleep.
The following morning we arose and pulled out cereal and oatmeal for breakfast. My kids didn't have seminary or school due to Veteran's Day, so we were able to sleep in, just a little. Tabitha's family loaded their stuff back into the car and they were gone.
Who knows how long it will be before Tabitha and I see each other again? But it seems that no matter how long it is between visits, we can always pick up where we left off. We still are and will always be friends.
Eventually we graduated from high school, and while we both went to BYU, we lived at opposite ends of campus and so we saw each other much less frequently. Then she got married. I went on a mission. We moved to different parts of the country. Nowadays, we don't see each other very often. I'm not very good at keeping in touch. She has eleven kids, and she home schools. But every once in a while we are able to get together and renew our acquaintance. She lives in Missouri now, near where my sister Kristy lives so last Thanksgiving when we were staying at Kristy's home, we were able to get together with Tabitha one day.
Last week, Tabitha and her family came to spend the night with us. They had been on a long vacation, and our home is conveniently located between Utah and Missouri, so Tabitha had asked if they could spend their last night on the road with us. When she first asked, I looked around our cozy three bedroom condo with our five at home, and then pictured their family of thirteen here as well and wondered how we could make it work. Tabitha assured me they didn't mind sleeping on floors, and I really was looking forward to seeing her, so I agreed to it.
In the days before they arrived, I set about cleaning up the boys' room. We would need to pick up the clutter on the floor and move the bunk bed if there was to be room for anyone on the floor in there. The week before Tabitha's arrival, my brother Joey spent the night on a mattress on the floor in John's room due to an overnight lay-over in Denver, and the mattress was still there, so I asked John to wash the bedding.And then the day arrived. They arrived in the evening having already eaten dinner elsewhere - just Tabitha, her husband and nine kids since one is on a mission and another was elsewhere. We talked and enjoyed each other's company. The older kids quickly became wrapped up with mine in creating D&D characters. The younger ones dashed here and there looking at my crochet creations, playing the piano, drawing pictures and chasing the cats. One little girl ran around in circles for several minutes while repeating, "I'm almost tired!"
We put most of the boys, including John, to bed on the floor in Josh and Peter's room. The girls slept in John's room, with the oldest on the bed and the three little girls sharing the mattress on the floor. The oldest boy slept on the floor in the living room, where Tabitha and her husband slept on the couches. I hope the cats didn't walk over them too much in their sleep.
The following morning we arose and pulled out cereal and oatmeal for breakfast. My kids didn't have seminary or school due to Veteran's Day, so we were able to sleep in, just a little. Tabitha's family loaded their stuff back into the car and they were gone.
Who knows how long it will be before Tabitha and I see each other again? But it seems that no matter how long it is between visits, we can always pick up where we left off. We still are and will always be friends.
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