the wisdom of a father.

two stories.

one:

when i was 20, my dad invited an ex-con to live in our house. he was very nice. like, the nicest. he was also a drug addict. crystal meth, i think. my dad picked him up from the local prison, brought him home, and gave him a few chores to keep him occupied. he was only supposed to stay for a day or so, but ended up living with the fam for 3 months. his name was grant. he insisted on sleeping on the living room floor with a single blanket. even with the commotion of 8 pm family time, grant would lay down, assume the fetal position, turn his back to the room, and close his eyes. to this day, we refer fondly to the green down comforter as "the grant blanket."

grant came everywhere with us. movies, little brother's wrestling matches... everywhere. it was mom, dad, other guy, brother, brother in the stands. very awkward. but these are the things that make up the bennion family memories.

two:

a couple weeks ago, jen and i were driving downtown, talking girl talk. boys, boys, boys.... what the $%&# just happened??, boys, boys, boys.... talking about things i THOUGHT mattered... where i THOUGHT my priorities would be... how surprised i was with myself for so easily giving up the not-so-important, superficial things that i joked were important {like, say, two 401(k)'s}... and re-affirmed what the important things really are.

out of NO WHERE, jen says, "oh, oh, OH! how could i forget? i have the perfect man for you!" {seriously, how could she forget??}

she goes onto explain - she's the new mia maid advisor in her ward. she eerily recognizes the laurel advisor.... because she's the sister of a dude she met in REHAB {awkward? probably.} when they realize who each other are, they swap stories... updates... stories of progress and success.

so jen tells me... "he's like 30 years old. five years sober. graduated in finance. aubry - he works in FINANCE... you KNOW he's got two 401(k)'s! really attractive. and just the right amount of schmuckity schmuck."

the sister tells jen the dude is ready to move onto "the next step in his life" {get married, i presume}, meets lots of great girls... but they're all young... and they can't come to terms with the idea that he's a recovering drug addict. soooooo, jen says to her...

"i have the perfect girl for him! my best friend loves drug addicts! she did 100 hours of community service with me... she took me to all my probation appointments.... she totally gets it."

so, thanks dad. thanks for introducing me to drug addicts early on in my life. thanks for making them a comfortable part of my every day. the eternities may have you to thank.