Last night, I rode a shuttle van for five hours to arrive in Rexburg at 7:30. As we approached the town, as evidenced by the glowing temple on the hill, it occurred to me, through the paths and turns of life, how much this little place in southern Idaho has come to mean to me.
My first ever visit to Rexburg was in the summer of 2002. Shulamith was approaching her junior year in high school, and we were starting her college search. We traveled from Washington to Rexburg to show her Brigham Young University Idaho, hoping that maybe she would think it a good fit. Compared to Whitman, where Luke would go to college the very next year, BYU-Idaho was practically free! We toured the campus, met with admissions counselors, and discussed options.
It was not to be. Shulamith liked the campus fine and the atmosphere, but she was resistant to the many rules, some of them admittedly ridiculous (no shorts or capri pants or flip flops allowed). More than clothing, though, she balked at being told what to do. "I've never been told what to do in my entire life. I've never had a curfew. So when I'm a freshman in college and technically an adult, I don't think I'll be interested in having one then."
Touche. She wound up at Westminster College, where she (and we!) paid literally ten times more than we would have at BYU-Idaho, but she received a great education where she got to wear shorts and flip flops and not have a curfew, and ultimately met her husband, so it's all good.
Nevertheless, I have the fondest memories of that first visit to Rexburg 15 years ago. We stayed in a motel with an outdoor pool, and through the course of the weekend, Shulamith taught both Isaiah and Eli how to swim, while I played in the shallow end with my baby, who was just two years old. This was before the Rexburg Temple was built, so one night Gerald and I left Shulamith with the three little boys at the hotel with money for pizza delivery, and we drove up to Idaho Falls to go through the temple there. Such a good weekend.
I would not return to Rexburg for another eight years in January of 2010. Newly engaged, Shulamith needed to go through the temple to receive her endowment in preparation for her wedding in February, but she was living in Salt Lake City, and we were still in Billings. We decided to meet in the middle, and where would that be? Rexburg! Gerald and I met her and Matt on the campus of BYU-I, where we all changed clothes and then drove up to the beautiful Rexburg temple, shining brightly on the hill. After the temple session, we had a quick, yummy Mexican dinner (where was that restaurant?) and sent Shulamith and Matt back to SLC, while we went the opposite direction back to Billings.
My ties to Rexburg were still fairly weak at this point, despite two lovely visits. But then, not long after, my best friend Lindsey moved permanently to Rexburg with her husband and family, and that kind of changed everything. Shulamith and Matt were married and living in SLC, and Rexburg became my overnight stopping point when driving to and from SLC to visit them. It was about the most perfect arrangement, because each time I passed through for a night, I got to hang with Lindsey, whom I missed so much anyway.
I have to admit it: Rexburg was growing on me. Enough that as Eli approached college age, I strongly encouraged him to consider BYU-Idaho. He was a chill enough kid that I knew he would be able to look past the silly rules about shorts and beards and curfews, and I thought it would be a great fit. Turns out I was right (moms usually are). In the fall of 2011, I brought Eli here to college. It was my fourth time dropping a kid for his first year of college, and I remember telling myself that this time, I would not cry. Fail. I sat in the parking lot of the Hinckley Building as the tears flowed. My Eli. In college. Once I pulled myself together enough to see, I drove straight to Lindsey. She didn't tell me I was being crazy. She didn't tell me to grow up and get over it. She didn't judge. She and David welcomed me into their home as they had done dozens of times before, and we played multiple games of Phase 10 (which I lost, as always), and they made me laugh and gave me Diet Coke, and I felt better. They are such good friends.
During that semester, I made several trips to Rexburg to visit Eli (and Lindsey), but when I wasn't there, she took over the "mom" role in my absence. She and David brought Eli over for dinner every Sunday and let him do his laundry at their house. They got to attend his first choir performance in "From the Heart," and she drove him to several pre-mission medical appointments. I will always be grateful for this service.
In the fall of 2014, home from his amazing mission, Eli returned to BYU-Idaho, and my Rexburg adventures continued. That was nearly three years ago, and here I still am, in Rexburg. Eli is now married and living here full time, not even home during off track semesters, so yeah, I have to come visit pretty often. Lindsey and family are also still here, so there's always an added bonus to my trips.
This weekend it's super cold here, currently about one degree. In a way it makes me nostalgic for those seven frozen tundra winters I spent in Billings. I came this time, partly to meet their new kitten, Ramsey, so last night, Amanda and I watched Downton Abbey while Eli was at work, and Ramsey (who is a possessed kitty) ran and tumbled and did somersaults all over the house.
Today, we play! Not sure yet what the nature of the "play" will be, but I know it will be fabulous, regardless. Tonight, I think we'll go to dinner at Wingers, to see Eli in action at his new job. Tomorrow I'll get to visit their new ward and relax with them on the Sabbath. Monday, I get to hang with Lindsey until my shuttle leaves at 2:00.
Whether it's sitting at McDonald's watching Lindsey's cute kids play, or staying up until way too late in the middle of the night talking to Eli and Amanda, or playing in a pool with my baby Seth so long ago, Rexburg has come to be a special place for me.
Faith. Family. Friends. That is what Rexburg means to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment