Utah Trip

Living far away from family can be tough for many different reasons.  Every time I see one of them calling on my caller ID, I can't keep from smiling.  I'm always excited to hear from them.  It may sound weird, but I always feel like I need to answer the phone...I mean you just never know if it's an emergency.

The other day I got some horrible news that my Uncle had passed away suddenly.  All of my uncles are a lot of fun, but Rick was the crazy one always wanting to play, stay up late with us kids and loved telling jokes and pulling pranks.  He was full of love for his family and friends.  Eventhough I only saw him once or twice a year, he was always quick to bring up an inside joke we had or a funny/embarrassing memory we shared to break the ice.  At a reunion many years ago he actually bribed me into riding The Colossal at Lagoon (something that my parents could never get me to do) by offering me cotton candy and $5.  After my mission he loved talking about other people in Spanish with me, he never said anything mean, he just loved to tease.  Everything was more fun when Uncle Rick was around.

I made a quick trip up to Utah for the funeral, missing most of the 2nd annual Roderick Roundup.  So many of my cousins were there including most of my family.  It was 2 days of crying because we missed him being there with us and laughing because of all the fun memories we have of him.  We all just loved him so much and you could feel that every time we gathered together to talk about him.  It was a very spiritual funeral, and another witness to me of the importance of the Gospel in my life.

Something I learned with this experience is that I never got to accept or realize my Grandpa's death 4 years ago.  I was on my mission and it was quite unexpected.  Since I was far from home and family and didn't know how to deal with it on my own, I just brushed it off as though it didn't happen.  This trip was great because for the first time I brought it up to my dad and got to hear all the details.  My Uncle was buried right next to my Grandpa so I got to see his grave site and I feel so much more at peace with it all.  I'm sure my Grandpa and Rick are having a great time together right now and I can't wait to see both of them again someday!

To finish the trip I got to see my beautiful cousin Robin (from my mom's side) who's living in Salt Lake right now and her cute little boy.  She showed me around the new mall there downtown and it was so nice to catch up with her and reminisce about childhood memories.  Also, I got to meet up with my two best roommates there to do some shopping.  After living with these two for 4 years, I miss that girl time!

After that, my dad and I rushed off to the airport and said our goodbyes. (our flights left at the same time)  It was an amazing 2 days and I'm so glad I got to go.  It's nice to know that even though I'm far away, I'm still a part of the family.