Ode to Brett

I've done a pretty good job of writing the occasional ode to Brett (1 & 2 from last summer when I was out in Georgia, and at least one other I found in the archives), but it's been almost a year, and I feel like writing another.

Sunday was a pretty big deal for my sister, Lisa.  She and Brett had flown to Utah to bless their baby John, an action that allowed both sides of their families to be in attendance.

Andrea & Brett
Homecoming 1998

Andrea & Brett
John's Blessing 2013

As I stepped into the chapel, I was immediately taken back to a time nearly 13 years ago when I sat in the same chapel watching Brett take a huge step in his life.  I was there to watch him deliver his farewell address before serving his mission in the California, Carlsbad mission.  Kirk and I were there together to listen to his homecoming.  And on Sunday, I got to sit with my clan of five, watching him prepare to bless his first son.  (Thankfully, I was also there to see him forget to take the baby up with him; the story just isn't the same secondhand!)

Back at Brett's family's home for a post-blessing luncheon, an aunt commented that I had known just what Brett was up to when he tried to steal my water bottle.  "Well, we've been friends for a really long time," I answered, then continued to joke that perhaps if he hadn't married my sister, I could have considered his move to Georgia to be good riddance.

But looking through his senior year scrapbook and reflecting on what easily could have been just a few years of good friendship, I feel pretty lucky to get to call one of my best friends "brother-in-law."  And I feel pretty proud that he gets to call my sister "wife."  But the best part is that my sons get to call their son "cousin."