A Decade On

I did a Scrapbook Challenge this week. We were challenged to use a grid, of some sort, in our Layout (LO). I knew immediately what I wanted to do. What I didn't know, though, was what photo I wanted to use. I have most of the photos taken over the past 3 or 4 years stored on my external hard drive. But none of them seemed quite right. I don't have many photos from earlier than 4 years ago here, because that's when I moved over. But, I do have some. They used to be on my wall in my bedroom. Now they're just sitting in a stack in my desk. So I started flipping through them. And this one caught my eye.

It's a photo taken in the Spring of 1999, right at the end of Winter Term at BYU. It was the end of my Sophomore Year there. I'd made some of the best friends I've ever had in my entire life that year. Cynthia and I had known each other since the previous Winter in the Dorms, and we'd become Roommates for our Sophomore Year. Amber and I still haven't figured out when, exactly we met . . . but it must have been during High School in Michigan. But we re-connected at BYU right at the end of my Freshman Year at BYU, and again at the beginning of my Sophomore Year. David and Hyrum were flatmates in Cynthia's and my Student Ward. Jared was David's best friend from High School, and came home from his mission in time for the start of the Winter Term, and moved in with Hyrum and David. The 6 of us became very close friends. We even organised ourselves into a 'Family'. Amber had been an exchange student to Denmark and proposed the name of our family be 'Hugue Family'. 'Hugue' means that warm fuzzy feeling you get from a hug. Sort of. It's that familial connection, and it personified our friendship perfectly. We did everything together. It was, in many ways, the best year of my BYU experience. It was certainly the best year of my pre-mission years. (It's tough to compare pre and post. They were very different experiences.) In this photo, we're up at a location we referred to as 'The Living Room'. It was a bonfire pit in Glenn Canyon, up the Provo Canyon. Thinking about those bonfire nights (there were many) still makes me smile. This photo was taken on one of our last days together before we all split for the summer, never to reconvene in quite the same way again. Hyrum married Cynthia (yeay!), Amber went on her mission (Denmark) and David switched Universities. Jared and I continued on at BYU without major changes for another year, before I went off on my mission (Chile). By the time I got back, David, Jared and Amber were all married. But we had that one special year together. 10 years later (well, start of the 10th year!) I look back and realise how much of who I am today is a direct result of their friendship.

I know several of you pass by the blog on occasion. Just letting you know, you've still got a special piece of my heart.

Much Love,

Adele (The Middle Child)