Life...

I started this post some time ago but never posted it. Now it is published...

I heard a quote some time ago that has become much more real to me: Life is what happens when you are planning for something else.

As I was finishing my undergraduate education at BYU, I certainly had some plans. There were places to go, things to do, people to see. And even though I've only recently finished, that time seems so distant to me now.

Something I often hear and feel that I ought to improve is directing my thoughts and attention toward others. When I turned 15, I was pretty bad at this. My birthday has always been MINE. In fact, whenever I met someone who had my birthday, I actually claimed them as my mortal enemy. (Sorry Chandler Chow, Devin Andreason, and others I cannot currently think of.)

But, the day after I turned 15 turned out to be much more than I had thought - than anyone had thought. So many people traveling or even just going to work that morning had no idea what was to come. I just really cannot put into words how I feel about this. The Timpview High School marching band had been invited to a Gathering of the Bands in Hawaii for the 60th commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor, representing the state of Utah and the U.S.S. Utah (one of two ships still lying in the harbor).

As part of our preparation for this trip at the end of November, we spent the summer studying the events leading up to the attack, the attack, the response, and the aftermath. It had been hard for me to really feel too connected to that experience. I think it was for all of us. Although the situations were quite different, the feeling was so similar. I really wish I could describe what in the heck I mean. But I can't. Because then we went there.

I had been in New York just a month before the attack. As part of the Boy Scout National Jamboree held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, we took a trip up to NY to see some sights. How normal it seemed then.

I could continue to 2004 and talk about Normandy, but that is for another day. Today belongs to those who lost their lives. It belongs to the loved ones of those people. To the children who no longer had a parent. To the husband who lost his wife. To the parents who lost who they had lovingly raised. My birthday only makes me think of others now. I pray that continues.