Roommate Rendezvous 2014

Roommate Rendezvous 2014  - Sun Valley, Idaho

That was then...

...this is now!!

Talk about a blast from the past!!!  I just spent a few days in Sun Valley, Idaho with my roommates from my Freshman year at BYU!! We all spent part or all of our Freshman year living in Heritage Halls, E. Richards #2110.  Some of us went on to live with each other in other apartments for one or two more years.   

Here is the Cast of Characters (not including me)

Stephanie Reid Nielson - bottom middle, both pictures - We lived in E. Richards, Monterey Apts. and Clover Haus.  She and I were room-roommates in Monterey and Clover Haus.  She left us to get married to her guy, Kirk, in December of that third year.  She now lives in Colorado with her husband and youngest daughter.  Her 4 other children (2 boys, 2 girls) are scattered around the country, including some cute grandchildren.

Salinda Holleman Riebow - bottom right, second picture.  You may be wondering why Salinda isn't in the picture from E. Richards.  Salinda lived with Janette in a different apt. in E. Richards their first semester, then moved into ours for the Winter Semester.  Her RM boyfriend, Mark, came to Provo to take Salinda to Preference and talked her into going back to Florida and to get married!  We only had her for a roomie for one block!!  She, Mark and her youngest daughter live in Florida.  She also has 2 more boys and 2 more girls who are older who live hither and yon, with some of those children also making Salinda a Grandma of some also, very cute, grandkids.  

Boonseon Song Gudmundsen - when you are a teeny little thing, you always get to be on the top of the pyramid.  Of course, in the second picture, we didn't have a very top, so you see her on the top left, because she is still a teeny little thing.  Boonseon was my room-roommate our Freshman year.  She came to BYU fresh from Korea, and as well as having to have me as a roommate, had to learn many new things about her new life in Provo, Utah - a far cry from Taegu, Korea.  Boonseon lived with us the next year in Monterey Apts.   She got a new roommate the next summer when she married her sweetheart, Kevin.  They now are empty-nesters in California.  Her 2 sons and one daughter live in Utah and Texas, including a very cute granddaughter.  (Are you sensing a theme with the grandkids?:)

Janette Wells Lewis (the rendezvous organizer, and provider of our lodging for the weekend.  Thanks, Janette)  - Middle row, right side both pictures.  Janette was with me until I got married.  The last semester in Clover Haus, she and I finally shared a room in the apartment.  Janette went on to serve a mission in Thailand before settling (that is a loose term with her) down in Utah with her husband, David.  Janette still has one daughter at home, and her other 3 girls live in Utah.  She is looking forward to being a grandma some day, to, no doubt, cute grandkids.:)

You may notice the other two girls in the original picture.  Penny Shaner Broderick, second row, next to Janette, was like our mother.  She was a little older than some of us, and seemed to have wisdom beyond her years.  I hoped to find her before the reunion, as I knew where she had lived for many years before college, but my efforts came to naught.  Boonseon put her brain on it after she got home from Sun Valley and found her just like that!  We look forward to meeting up with Penny soon!!!  Michelle Cooper is on the bottom row, left side, and we have no idea where to even begin looking for her.  It would seem our apt. door was a revolving one, as we had 3 other roommates in our first semester in E. Richards as well.  Cindy Fullmer, Jeri (I can't remember her name) and Melvina - aka, I keep my produce under my bed  (I'm not kidding about that.  She was in my room, and we had fruit flies for a few days until she moved to a different place) - all lived with us, but were gone by the end of Fall Semester.

So, back to the weekend.  (That background took a while, sorry about that)

Most of us spent from Saturday afternoon to Tuesday morning together.  Boonseon couldn't come until Sunday evening, and she, Janette, and Salinda all stayed until Wednesday.  That meant that we had all day Monday together, and we packed it in.

Redfish Lake was a beautiful place to spend our precious day together.  We headed out, and took advantage of every minute we had to chat and catch up with each other.  I'm not sure I heard one silent moment on either the hour long drive to the lake or back.  (We know how to use our time efficiently! :)

We hiked, we talked,  we laughed, we ate, we talked, we laughed, we relaxed on a boat ride, still had plenty to say and laughed some more.  And then, after we got back to Ketchum to do a little shopping and eat some yummy gelato, we still weren't done talking or laughing.  And, yes, you guessed it, even during our late dinner (can you say Chicken Cordon Bleu at about 9:30 pm?) and a little roommate trivia game, we still laughed, and talked.  (I would just like to apologize one more time to Salinda for not letting her get a word in edgewise more than a few times that day.  I think Steph would second that with me.)  

There are a few observations I made during the reunion and since I have gotten home.  

 - These girls are still the same people I knew 30+ years ago, only better versions of themselves.  Boonseon made a similar observation. She commented that she heard our same voices from all those years ago, but with an added layer of something (maturity may be a stretch for some of us, but maybe she heard they have been added to with our life experiences)

-We have not breezed through these many years apart.  Serious illness?  Yep, breast cancer among other things.  Kids giving us fits?  Yep, at least a few of us have been through that.  Marital stuff - check. Financial troubles including unemployment - check again.  Miscarriages, parents' deaths, other troubles with parents, minor illness? - Yes, yes, yes and yes.  I think its safe to say most of the trial and adversity bases are covered between us.

-Despite the above experiences, we are all still strong in the Gospel.  I realized after I got home, I felt a little like when Ammon and company met Alma the younger while they were out teaching the Lamanites.  Alma 27:16 - 19.  It was a joyful meeting, and he was swallowed up in joy even to exhausting his strength.  I, too, was exhausted with joy (and all that laughing) after being with my long ago friends.  We are all married in the temple, we have tried to raise our kids in righteousness, we all hold temple recommends, and we all are contributing to our wards.  (Two RS Presidents, one RS Counselor, a Sunday School teacher/Temple Worker, and one Seminary Teacher.)  I felt strength from being among these girls and buoyed up by their faith and examples.

-A person cannot make up for stupid mistakes, but they can be grateful for friends with forgiving hearts who still accept the stupid mistake-making person, love said person, and let her move forward with them in rekindling friendships that will surely last many years to come. 

And, yes Janette, I know - Spain.  Just give me a little more time. :)

It was a fantastic few days, worth every second I spent on the road getting there and home.  I love these girls, and being with them reminded me why I love them, and the great influence they were in my life all those years ago.

This is a really long blog post for just one or two days of activities, but like I said, we packed our time, and we had A LOT of catching up to do.  Next time there will only be a year or two to fill each other in on.

We did decide a Roommate book club is a good idea, that the majority of us are Downton Abbey fans, that we need to get together more often, that 30+ years is way to long to have let go by before we got together, but that 30+ years has only enhanced our experience together.  So I say, "Long live E.Richards Rm 2110.  (Ironically, the dorm building we lived in has been razed and replaced with something bigger and better, but the original will always stay in our hearts.)

The following pictures are a little photo diary of the weekend, with more than a few editorial comments and not necessarily in chronological order. 

Enjoy...

Killing time preparing dinner until Boonseon got there.  

You can't appreciate this picture until you think about how big this chair is, and how young we are NOT!  :)

The autumn color was beautiful on the way to Redfish Lake

Notice the matching t-shirts?  Salinda surprised us with a gift bag with these shirts, some orange blossom honey and strawberry preserves from Florida.  They have our names on them, as well as the logo of the school that brought us all together, complete with little cougar paws!  So cute!!

I couldn't resist snapping this.  Something about a stream...I can't stop myself.

Stephanie treated us to lunch at Redfish Lake Lodge.  Yummy food and good company. (you will notice there are two people without pink t-shirts.  Some of Janette's family came up for a few days, and Jael and Brent stayed after everyone else went back to SLC.  They really earned their spots when we needed a group picture.  It would have been too much to ask to set a timer on the camera AND try to get into position.  Someone would have gotten hurt.

The lodge where, in the parking lot, the miracle of the car bumper occurred!   We're pretty sure we heard angels singing!! 

Mt. Heyburn which happens to be named after an Idaho state congressman whose interest did not lie in conserving animals, land, you name it.  We all thought that was a great way to "honor" his legacy!  :)

The weather wasn't conducive to using these, but I loved the color they provided in this shot.

The sun was in the wrong part of the sky to truly get a good shot of the "Gates of Heaven" but you get a general idea.  Beautiful!!  Thanks to Boonseon for treating us to the guided boat tour.

Love the reflection

I didn't get an actual picture of the entrance to the lake.  This will have to do.

Yummy gelato!!  You will notice there are more than one set of legs stretched out.  We went hard all day!  We were ready for a little rest.