I like nice people

Sam and I took our first plane ride completely by ourselves this weekend. The kid is a handful (more like two hands full, for honesty's sake), so I was pretty worried about him freaking out on the plane and not being able to contain him. Lucky for us, the flight from Salt Lake to Denver is only about an hour long. We were so lucky on both flights- the gentlemen sitting next to us actually liked babies. On the first flight our seat mate showed pictures of his little girl to Sam (he loves pictures of babies) and gave him a RiceKrispies treat to play with. On the return flight our seat mate offered to hold him and get my bag from the overhead rack. Seriously, it means so much to this frazzled mother to have people act kindly towards my son.

While in Denver, Sam and I attended the funeral of the son of one of my best friends from my undergrad days. I think the death of a child is one of those moments where you know for sure whether or not you believe in God and trust in His plans for your life. My heart breaks for my friends, who will have to wait many years before they see their little boy again. I take comfort, however, in knowing that they know that they will see him again. Their marriage was solemnized in the temple of the Lord, and their children will be with them forever, even if they don't have the blessing of their company for more than a few months on earth. In looking for comfort I could share with them, I found this poem by President Gordon B. Hinckley:

What is this thing that men call death,

This quiet passing in the night?

'Tis not the end, but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart,

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change

With recompense for victory won;

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One.

After the funeral, my cousin Steven picked us up to take us back to the airport. I haven't seen him in a couple years, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We talked about how Facebook has both helped people keep in touch, and yet enabled us not to keep in touch at all. I know Steven is planning a trip to Africa with his jump team and his girlfriend, and he sees all my pictures of Sam, but we haven't really talked since we saw each other in April '08. It is kind of sad, actually. It further contributes to my love/hate relationship with FB.

In any case, the three of us had a great time hanging out. Sam looooved his bread crust treats at Panera Bread. Steven and I spent the car ride talking about things that are actually important. It was a good way to finish a trip that started off on a sad note.