How did that happen so fast?

A couple of years ago I flew into Salt Lake to meet up with Kathy and the kids. Mandy was at Violin camp, and Jeff was at a camp at BYU. While we were there we ran into some friends of ours that were there dropping off their son for his first semester at B.Y.U. The Mom was so funny because she was a mess. Although she had older daughters this was her oldest son, and he was moving away from mom into the dangerous college world of the Y. Later that evening Kathy and I went out to dinner with Jen and Nate and ran into them again, her eyes were all red and swollen and if you even mentioned her son she struggled to contain her composure. Maybe I have a bit of a twisted sense of humor, because I thought that it was hilarious that she was having such a hard time with this, when the reality was that he was less than a 5 hr drive away.

My twisted sense of humor might be finally be catching up with me. This morning Jeff had to go off to Volleyball practice and I was put in charge of trying to getting his housing assignment for the fall semester at B.Y.U. . Registration began at 8:00, but due to such a large volume of students trying to get a dorm assignment the servers crashed for almost an hour. I finally got in, registered, and everything was alright (I hope).

Sometime around 1:00 it hit me that Jeff if going to be moving away. I knew that some day he would be old enough to move out, and start his own life, I just wasn't expecting it to come so soon. As I drove around today I reflected on some of the things that I will miss about Jeff when he is gone.

1) His music. Jeff is very musical, sometimes this is good, sometimes not so good. It is good when he sits down and plays a song that rings through the house and adds a special calm. It is not so good when he is bored and is experimenting with a new song and doesn't care if it is slightly out of his range, or how hard he bangs the keys until he gets it right. He occasionally writes songs, and some of them are my favorites. I remember one time that he sang a song that he had written and composed. One of the cousins was over with a friend of hers, when Jeff finished the song I looked over at the friend and she was in tears because of how touched she was by the music.

2) His willingness to serve. I can't tell you how many times I have come home to find him at the dining room table with someone that is struggling with a subject. I laugh when I watch him do homework. The cell phone, text, I.M. everything is constantly going off from friends that he is helping with homework. When I say helping, that is what it is. He does not cheat, instead he helps others learn the subject so that they can understand it for themselves. He is a natural teacher and can explain things so that it make sense.

3) His goofy hats. Jeff has a couple of hats that I absolutely can't stand, but they are his style and it is an extension of his personality.

4) His sense of humor. He can find humor in just about anything, and has a very unique laugh.

5) His spirituality. He has read the B.O.M through I don't know how many times. I am teaching his Sunday School class and am blown away at how well he (and all of the kids in class) know their scriptures. I find that I constantly learn from his example.

6) His interaction with his brothers and sister. Every since he was little he has had a special relationship with all of them. Mandy used to like to cuddle up next to him when they were watching t.v.. Tim and Jeff like to wrestle and compete. When Jeff drives to Seminary, I have heard that Tim sits shotgun and occasionally rocks out in the front seat.

Jake idolizes him and loves it when they get to spend time together.

7) Sports. I used to go watch him play soccer and thought that it was fun to see him play. One of his earliest coaches was a young husband and wife. a couple of years ago I was sitting at Baja Fresh waiting for my order. There was a couple with a new baby that I was watching. I kept thinking how happy they seemed, and how lucky they were to be starting with a new life. When they walked out of the restaurant I realized it was the couple that had been Jeff's coach. I chased them out to their car, and startled them when I walked up next to the window to get their attention. At first they were confused why I was standing at their car. When Omar rolled down his window I explained that I thought they looked familiar and asked if they were the couple that had coached Jeff when he was little. When I told them I was Jeff's dad Brenda's face lit up. She told me that when she found out that we were moving across town and he would not be playing on the team the next year she went home and cried. She remembered him from all those years and was happy to hear that he was playing still. Jeff now plays Volleyball, and was the setter for the team last year, as well as team captain this year. Last year Centennial went to state but lost to Vegas, this year should be just as exciting.

8) Taxi driver. I can't tell you how much help it has been to have a third driver.

9) Friends. Jeff's friends are fun to have around the house. I doubt that they will continue to come by once he leaves.

10) His frugalness. It makes me proud (it drives his mom crazy) He can stretch a dollar further than any other kid I know. A big part of this is because he does not want to put a burden on the family budget by constantly spending money.

Anyway, as much as we will miss him, we are excited to see him maturing and growing into such a good person. We know that when he leaves us he will be a positive influence on other. I don't worry about him going off and running wild, but I hope he has lots of great fun experiences as he starts out on his own.

I think the funniest part about the feelings that I have had today is that he still has the remainder of his senior year, and a full summer before he leaves. Hopefully this will be enough time to get my estrogen levels in balance so that I can deal.

(side note, this is a soda in his hand)