My friend Mary

I have been doing a lot of decluttering lately and I came across some old slides that my friend Mary took. As I looked at all the pictures a wave of emotion went through me. First all the pictures brought back tons of happy memories of the college days. I joined a sorority in college, Lambda Delta Sigma. Mary was one of my first friends I made. I went to Lake Powell with the sorority and Mary quickly befriended me. That first year in college was a blast. We became very good friends very quickly.

I made some of my favorite friends during the Lambda years. Valyn, Lisa, Sonya, Angie and Caprus. There were many more but dementia has taken over me in my old age and I cannot remember there names. Mary and I were good friends and we had moments when we better friends than other times.

Around the time I was twenty most of all my friends either left on missions or they got married. Mostly they got married. Mary and I were about the only ones who didn't. We had tons of fun during that time. We went to many college dances, we biked (we had matching bikes)and we just had fun. One thing we loved to do was go to Tony's Pizza or go get frozen yogurt. We had a lot of fun. One day we had a bad fight and I was done with our friendship. For two years I didn't see Mary. Those were kind of sad years. Even though I kept busy with work I missed having her around. One day out of the blue she came into my work. It was a lot of fun catching up.

After Mary came into my work we started hanging out again. One of our many missions was to find a good singles ward. She still talked to Sonya and she told Mary about a singles ward in Bountiful. We thought we would try it out. So we drove from Ogden/Roy every Sunday to go to church. It was a very friendly ward. We actually had people who were not scary come up and talk to us. So, we kept going. It was an extremely fun ward. At least once a month we would have a General Authority or an Apostle come and speak for Sacrament. After awhile we got braver and started going to the activities. They were super fun. Then we got really brave and went to a River rafting trip. We had so much fun and enjoyed every minute of the trip. Each year we went back the the river trip. Always we had fun.

Then in June 1995 the ward decided they were bored with the Green River and planned a trip down the Snake River. There was a lot of planning and a lot of training so everyone would be safe. I was engaged to Timo by then so it was going to be different trip. Mary went with her cousin and I went with Timo. I talked to Mary a lot and just before we went down the river she helped me get my vest on. That was the last time I ever talked to her.

As her boat was going down the river they hit a bunch of rocks and her boat tipped over. Everyone got out but Mary. Some how she got tangled in the ropes and they were not able to pull her out. That was a very hard day.

When this happened I was so caught up in getting married, also Mary was an only child and I just felt so bad about her parents losing her that I just didn't think much about her or what she meant to me.

So, when I came across these photo's, 15 years later, a wave of emotions (happy and very sad)took over me because I had time to think about Mary. She was a great person, so kind. She helped me through a lot of hard times. I remember when I was about twenty five and not married and a friend of mine was getting married for the second time and I told her it was hard because I couldn't even find one guy. And she said "do you really want to be married to the taco time king." because that is who my friend was marring and it really made me feel better. She had a fun perspective about life. Some attitude with a gentle, sweet kindness that I don't think I have ever seen in another person. She was a wonderful person. I really miss her. I wish I could call her and just talk. I wish my kids could have met her. She was so good with kids they would have loved her.

Its so weird to go back and think of someone who had been such a big influence in your life and realize that right now she's not here. That's when you are very thankful for the Plan of Salvation because I want to see Mary again and just laugh with her.