Reminiscing -- Am I Getting Old? -- Post by Derek

I was asked to do a blog post by my dear wife, since I just turned 28 on Saturday, about some of the memories I have in my old age. I don't think 28 is that old, I have a good friend I worked with at Westaff who I always used to give him a hard time about his age. I think he is 33 or 34 now. But, I always used to give him a hard time about his age when he was in his early 30's. The Bishop I serve with is also 33, which is quite young to be a Bishop, but I like to give him a hard time about his age too. Anyway, it is good to surround yourself with people older than you.

For my birthday I was very happy to watch BYU take it to Wyoming. It seems that BYU football games have always been tied to my birthday. I guess this is fitting since I was born on November 17, 1979 at about halftime of the BYU-Utah game. BYU won 27-0 that day!!! My parents almost named me Cosmo, but thought better of it. My dad was able to make it back to Cougar stadium for the 2nd half of the game the day I was born. I get my BYU roots from my parent's, who often go to road football games as well.

The last time that BYU played Utah on my actual birthday was 2001, which was also the last time BYU beat Utah in Provo. That will change this Saturday as BYU will beat Utah for the 2nd straight year, and this time at home. I remember we were down 21-10 with only about 5 and a half minutes left and I was frustrated with the Utah fans all around me and thought about leaving; I didn't want this to ruin my birthday and Melinda told me we were still going to win and Luke Staley and Brandon Doman worked their magic and we came back to win! It was awesome! Brandon was in our ward at the time along with many other players on the team and I have had the chance to keep in touch with him.

We got him to come out and throw out a first pitch this last season here at the Bees. There is an additional picture of us at the stadium together on an earlier post on our blog, but here is one with him actually on the mound. I am excited to see what Max Hall can do against this Utah team, with Brandon as the QB coach, I am sure he can bring some of that magic back to beating the Utes.


I am obviously a huge fan of sports, in many ways it has been a structure of my life. I played
them all my life growing up and have my teams that I cheer for. Those that know me know that I am a huge fan of the Atlanta Braves, I love following their team and am a diehard fan. I also cheer for BYU and follow the basketball and football teams very closely. I also cheer for the Utah Jazz. If I had to choose an NFL team right now it would be the Philadelphia Eagles because of Andy Reid (who was on the BYU team the day I was born as an offensive lineman) and Reno Mahe, also Chad Lewis (go OHS!) who played for them before.

Now a little bit of the reminiscing. This next month I will have been home from my mission for 7 years. So much of my mission to New Jersey shaped the rest of my life. This picture is from my last preparation day on my mission when the returning missionaries get a chance to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I spent quite a bit of my mission in this area, which is Jersey City. The twin towers were my mountains, kept me directionally sound. I loved the energy and the people of New Jersey and miss so many things about that place. I had many great experiences and find it hard to believe that I will be home for as long as I now am. I still try to keep in touch with former missionaries and people I met out there.

I met Melinda shortly after returning home and we immediately became friends. I have always been impressed with how cheerful and optimistic she is. She was always serving people and was heavily involved in the Institute program at UVSC. She volunteered for so many different things at the school and also in the Institute. I remember when I returned to New Jersey to visit some people I worked with on my mission only a few months after returning from my mission and missed Melinda so much. I was only back in New Jersey for a week, but talked to her on the phone. This sounds cheesy, I know, but I brought this picture of Melinda in a frame and set it up in the room I stayed in of the member's house I stayed at during that week.

It wasn't too much after this week in New Jersey that I popped the question and we were engaged. We got married in the Mt Timpanogos Temple on August 4th, 2001 and it was a perfect day.

I am currently working for the Salt Lake Bees and enjoy it, although the hours during the season make me long to be with my family more. I spend a lot of time, also at our church building down the street as part of my calling. I am an organized guy that probably borders on the edge of insanity when it comes to stat keeping and other nerdy things when it comes to following my sports teams.

I guess my life in many ways is just beginning and I have a lot to look forward to, but I tend to wonder how much of Grace's upbringing I am missing. I think we all probably feel that way as parents. I can't believe she will start Kindergarten in 2008 and before you know it she, too, will be having to deal with boys and I will have to buy some ammunition. I am very blessed to have such a sweet and understanding wife and an amazing child. I would like to thank everyone who is such a close and dear part of my life and thank those that passed on birthday greetings. I tried to get everyone to sing, but only a few obliged.

I like having my birthday so close to Thanksgiving, I have a real dose of gratitude and reflection in November each year. I am so thankful for my family and friends!

I hope I have not bored any of you with my post, but I guess birthdays cause you to be reflective on where you are in life and what is truly important! We love you all!