the number 23
I totally forgot to post yesterday...er, two days ago now, technically...for my birthday! I'm now 23 years old, and it's just not all that exciting anymore. Heh. I really didn't even do anything for my birthday except go to the Olive Garden for lunch with my mom, which was an adventure in itself. I hesitate to tell the story because it means admitting that even I, the best woman driver in the world (*mutter*self-proclaimed*mutter*), was still just a woman driver for a singular moment in time. *sigh* But the tale must be told, and hopefully it will at least make you laugh...
Alright, so my mom and I took separate cars because she had to go straight to work right after lunch. I knew how to get to Olive Garden, but I followed my mom anyway because it just worked out that way. We pull into the parking lot, and she starts to pull into a spot, but then hesitates and starts going back towards the left around the corner of the building. She goes for a little, and I guess I thought that she kept readjusting because she was going to try to fit into a different spot. So I start to pull right behind her into the first spot, and as she starts backing towards me again, I realize a split second too late that she was trying to
back into the spot I'm trying to pull forward into. So really, it *is* at least
partly her fault, because she assumed that surely her daughter would know what she was doing and not be behind her, and therefore didn't even look over her right shoulder at all. My brain was farting so badly that I didn't even think to try and back up or honk the horn or anything. I just watched in horror as my mom continued to back right into me, only stopping when she heard the crunch of her bumper against my front left wheel well. She stops, pulls into a spot a little ways down, and I pull into the spot we had been "fighting" for.
Of course, by this time, I wasn't sure whether to get out and face her or just pull out again and go home with my tail between my legs. I opted for the first choice, biting my lip to keep from laughing at my own stupidity. The look of half anger, half bemused incredulity on her face did not help at all. I think the only reason she didn't start yelling at me right then and there is because she didn't know whether to scream at me or laugh at me herself. Her bumper was a bit scratched, and there's a couple of cracks in my wheel well, but as my car is old and a POS anyway, and neither of us really want to explain this one to my dad, let alone the police or a shop, we're basically going to pretend it never happened. XD
Jeff, wherever you are, laughing your butt off somewhere on Heaven's floor, yes, I admit it, I *am* a chick driver. -_-
Beyond that, the only thing I really got for my birthday was pizza and brownies from my best friend and her husband for dinner that night. Oh! And the coolest thing! My friend Cody just got back from a 10-day trip to China. He brought back all kinds of stuff for everyone, so even though he didn't even know it was my birthday, I got stuff from him. Hehe. He gave me a Chinese Chess set, a pair of *real* chopsticks that even came in a pretty little pouch, one Chinese dollar (the anti-counterfeiting measures on that bill were INSANE but awesome), and a really nice little thing that's technically supposed to be a cell phone keychain, but I put it on a necklace chain and it's really pretty. I'm so excited that he thought of me and that I now have some cool Chinese stuff! Though now I really REALLY want to go to Japan... T.T
rough waters
I apologize for the long span between updates. I've tried and failed several times to put to words just exactly what's been going on in such a way as to do justice to the young man who is no longer here with us on Earth. Most people know by now that basically, I'm no longer at school in Rexburg and that it's because I recently lost a very dear friend. As I said, nothing I say can ever truly do him justice, but I'll give it a try for the sake of moving onward and upward.
Jeff Fagan, one of my best and truest friends, took his own life on February 22nd, 2008. He was 22 years old, and had SO much ahead of him. If he had given himself time to think about that, as well as how many people love him and looked to him for so many reasons, I know that he would have chosen differently. Unfortunately, he did not give himself the chance to think, he just acted, and we'll never truly know why. He wasn't depressed, or he hid it well, because not even our friends that were living with him saw it coming. He was always so happy, and never really got angry, and he empathized with everyone he met. Maybe that was part of what led him to do it; he carried his loved ones' burdens as well as his own. He had such a big, tender heart and he was always so generous and willing to help people.
He could build anything out of Legos or K'nex without instructions, as well as anything from his head, without photo references. He built a working, moving, miniature 'Mech from cardboard and such. He molded swords, both standard and imaginative, from balsa wood for himself and for his friends. He made one for my 16th birthday, and I will cherish it forever. He could tear down, modify, and rebuild anything, mostly his cars. He got his Ford Probe during our Junior Year of high school, and by the time it got totaled a couple of years ago, he could fix ANYTHING on not only that car, but anyone else's. He had just barely finished turboing the Probe, and it was AMAZING, let me tell you, and it was really sad when the guy ran a red light and t-boned it before Jeff could even take it to the track once to see what it could do. Luckily, he got a deal on an already TWIN-turboed Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. It was already pretty amazing to begin with, but there's ALWAYS something to be done, and he got to work on it almost immediately. He even modified the computer chip to be able to control certain aspects with his laptop computer just for performance situations. I went with him and a few other friends to the track with the VR4, and despite his rather slow reaction time and not having much racing experience, his best time was 12.89 seconds. If only he had given himself the chance to go back this summer and practice...I mean DANG he had so much potential, and there's just too much to be said about how awesome he was, I could go on forever. *sigh*
And yet, I know where he is, and I know that he knows so much now where he is. I take comfort in being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and having the perspective and knowledge that I have. I don't know what I would do if I didn't know that I will see him again. He means so much to me, and I loved him, no *LOVE* him dearly. I always had a thing for him, and while I got over it for the most part, I don't think I ever stopped caring about him in that way, to be completely honest. Call me crazy, but there's bound to be some single lady in Heaven who he will finally find happiness with. I hope that with all my heart, because he deserves that kind of happiness.
The good times were aplenty with him around, and we, his family and friends, will always...ALWAYS treasure those times and memories. He will be sorely missed, and I will always get choked up thinking about him, but he will never be forgotten. Maybe it's cliche and cheesy, but you've heard what they say about legends.
They never die.
