Happy Bday John MARK

FUN AFTER ALMOST FIFTY ~ (at our 30 year reunion)

For me, for decades, March 3 = Mark B!

Both of these wild and crazy guys in this

photo have been my buddies since we were

kids being 'scolded' by our various teachers.

(mostly just for making each other laugh!)

But today's post goes to the the amazing

distinguished gray-haired man in the middle!

Whenever I think of him, or see any photo

of him, I immediately think of his fun laugh!

It's infectious, I can't help smiling even now!

Mark & I go way way back; we were raised

within the same ward family - which in our

Menlo Park neck of the woods would have

been enough to make us close, but beyond

that, we were in the same circle everywhere.

Our paths crossed constantly!

And although we haven't spent much time

together in the past 3 decades, our lives have

STILL always been linked* and we just pick

up right where we left off - we are FAMILY.

Mark was around to tease me and appreciate

me through every phase of our 'coming of age'

Wait - Did I mention his teasing?

But I have to admit, I did a darn good job of

dishing it right back at him! Yes, he gave me

a hard time, but it was different with him,

it was endearing - there wasn't any malice -

When others may have been annoyed - he was

just AMUSED! Don't get me wrong, we were

each capable of feeling annoyed with people,

and policies, etc... but not with each other -

Why bother, when there was always so much

and so many others for us to make fun of?

Even -or especially- at 6:30 am, day in and day

out in 'Early Morning Seminary'! I can just hear

him singing his rendition of: 'L i k e U n t o U s'.

Mark was surprisingly very observant, even

though many people thought he was oblivious.

He was observant of both truth and hypocrisy -

even while appearing to be carefree or just

teenage apathetic. Sarcasm was just his way

of getting through adolescence! (i wonder if

he's had to remind himself of that during the

past decade while parenting HIS teenagers).

We even had fun sharing our observations

of others and what made them 'tick'. He & I

had zero tolerance for FAKE; we saw right

through it - (and still do, but we TRY to be

more kind about it as we get older, -or at

least HE tries, especially as Bishop these days).

.

¡LOVE YOU MUCHO JUAN MARCO NOW 51!

And if you are still enjoying this tribute... read more below - otherwise,

hasta la vista and thanks for stopping by.

* Yeah - the "always been linked" thing began long

ago... with our common connection to wonder boy

~ Ma r C ~ Who was Mark's constant side kick

from roughly age 12-18 - and had been MY major

crush... from as early as a crush could begin. In

my mind while growing up, marrying MarC was a

'given' - duh!! It was on into high school before i

began to snap out of it - and finally concluded

whole-heartedly (about the time i left for college),

That M.A.S. was NOT my Destiny Man!

This enlightenment, (not to mention moves out of

Sharon Heights) could've potentially resulted in

the weakening of my link w/ Mr J Mark - but NO!

¡Al contrario! Our paths continued to cross at

some fateful moments that fall of freshman year

at "the BYU" in Helamen Halls ('77)... And during

Conference weekend he took my SoCal Pal slash

Dorm Buddy /Natural Beauty /Animated Brainiac

/Incredible SISTER of my sister-in-law: KEVIE

on a drive to SQUAW PEAK!! At which point they

became romantically involved, - (total SHOCKER

for me at the time) and have been ever since!!!

i miss you both... and your perfect children too :)