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 :)
