Justin Youens

I knew who Justin was when I was in junior high, but I never KNEW him. I knew he was a year older than me and played the trombone in the band. And I knew he was pretty much best friends with Matthew Walls, who was also my friend. Then, on a summer trip with FBC Atlanta to Ridgecrest, North Carolina, we got to know each other really well. He made me laugh really hard all the freakin' time. For whatever reasons, I thought he was so cool, and I really looked up to him.

I think some of the qualities that initially drew me to him as a friend were his humor, friendliness, and energy. Like I said, he made everybody laugh. His personality has always been lively and fun. And he is not discriminatory. He's very kind to the nerdiness of nerds and the jockiest of jocks... and they all like him, always have as far as I know. In one sense, you have this incredibly brilliant computer geek who I always bragged would be the next Bill Gates, and, on the other hand, this suave, well-liked, competitive guy who everyone wants to know.

So I did what I could to be in his presence on that trip. I wanted to sit by him on the charter bus, at meals, and in the services. And everytime he said something funny, I would turn in all directions, as I continued to do through the years, to make sure everyone around us heard what he had said. If they had not, I filled them in. I quickly became the coordinator for the Justin Youens fan club, letting everyone know how funny and smart he was... and, of course, implied in that context that he was my friend. I remember from that summer on, all the way through high school, being so proud that everyone knew Justin was my very close friend.

It always raised my self confidence a thousand notches when a friend whom I admired expressed mutual respect of me (still does). So, when I got the sense on that trip that Justin mutually wanted to build a friendship with me, my self confidence went skyward, and without a doubt, his encouragement of and confidence in me through the years lifted me to do things and express myself in ways that I definitely would never have done had he not been there. There are girls I would not have dated without his encouragement, things I might not have pursued, like debate and informative speaking, had he not been involved in them, and one particular sport I would not have excelled in without him, tennis. He even allowed me to be his doubles partner my junior (his senior) year in high school, though I was not nearly as good as him (and he, for the most part, even held back his frustration at my many screw-ups).

Something you must know about Justin is that he is a lucky dog. He used to be a living legend for his good fortune. He would win things right and left, like free Surges, free Snapples and Snapple t-shirts, randomly win drawings, $50.00 on his first lottery ticket on his 18th birthday, all kinds of odd winnings that I cannot remember in detail. Anyhow, just trust me, he was a like a wizard when it came to stumbling into good fortune when we were in high school. And I think that has always been the case with Justin.

Beyond these petty "good fortunes," you must also know that Justin is brilliant. The story goes that he got a computer back in the day (was it junior high) just before going on a family camping trip. The computer came just before he was to leave, and he whined to his parents that he wanted to stay home and play with his new "toy" (Justin has always loved new "toys" and gadgets). Well, they made him go on the camping trip, so he studied the dadgum D.O.S. manual the whole time, wishing to be back where he could put his new knowledge to work. The rest is history.

In high school, he worked for Cloverleaf Technologies answering questions over the phone, walking folks through their tech problems, and, eventually, the boss guy realized how astute he was, let him design some websites, and before you know it, he had gone in with a couple of guys to run their own company, I-Pages, next door. Sooner still, Justin was running his own business, Youens Design and Hosting, first out of the former I-Pages office, then out of his parents home, while just a junior in high school (as I remember). He was on the fast track to all the success that he has long since had, and I won't go into detail, because I am so out of date. I still brag that he made websites for Mary Kay makeup, some leatherworks company, and Hawaiian Tropics sunscreen, and that was way back in high school. His work is far beyond my comprehension, at this point, but still, whenever he shares with me what he is presently working on, I inevitably brag in the ensuing weeks to a host of other friends about what Justin is up to now. I don't know why, but I get so extremely proud of everything he does. Evidence to me that he still means a whole heck of a lot to me.

A few years ago, Justin hooked up with this incredibly amazing girl named Christy, and since then they've married, graduated from Texas A&M, recently purchased a new home, and hopefully will spend New Years Eve with me. I am pathetically out of touch with them, but Justin recently commented on this very blog that there is hope that we might be neighbors one day. Though I have no idea what the heck he meant or how the heck that could ever happen, his random comment keeps repeating itself to me as the weeks go by. Something in me hopes, because few people loosen me up and give me such joy about life as Justin.

Robert Butler

(Instead of writing thank you notes to my groomsmen for spending way too much money to come to Seattle and be in my wedding, I am going to dedicate a blog entry to each of them.)

I met Robert in fourth grade, and, though I don't remember the first meeting, I do remember that we spent a lot of time together at recess digging in a dirt mound. As I remember it, there were certain guys that he hung out with over in the dirt mound area, and, somehow or another, there we were, proudly digging tunnels in a pile of East Texas soil.

That was not all we spent our time doing during recess that year, of course, but that venture was where the friendship began. I remember enjoying his company, though I don't remember what we talked about. I remember that he was kind and welcoming, though I couldn't explain why.

Through the years, there are more memories etched into my consciousness of me with Robert than with any other single person, I think.

I remember spending the night at Robert's house and walking through his neighborhood to the nearby gas station and purchasing Dr. Peppers and cinnamon rolls... on many occasions. That would be our breakfast for the next morning. We would also usually pick up either a bag of Lay's Sour Cream and Onion chips or a Pringle's Sour Cream and Onion cylinder. (At some point in junior high, I believe, Robert stole something (cigarettes?) from that store, and, years later, went back and repaid them.)

...As that memory popped into my head, a memory that he would probably rather forget, another similar memory arose: of Robert slipping some NyQuil into Mrs. Hegel's (a junior high science teacher) soda. She ended up going home for the day and, as the story goes, retired after that year (that year Tony Wilde also put Kool-Aid in her fish-tank and Brian Frost set a fire with paper cloths in the back of her room).

Sorry Robert, I can't help but tell those stories. The thing about Robert is that there are a million, maybe a billion, stories. Stories of crime and punishment, romance and adventure, courage and wisdom, friendship and discovery, joy and sadness. There are stories of laughter, crying, excitement, and peacefulness.

He is a guy that has been chasing dreams and having visions ever since I met him. As I think back to the days when I was digging in that dirt mound with him, my guess is that I dug in that dirt mindlessly, just enjoying the sunshine and the experience of companionship and play. But I wonder now if Robert had much more going on in his head. Was he hoping to dig down to China, or build a giant clay statue of Superman, or build a large tunnel system for us to sneak around the playground through? Did his inspiration for digging come for last Saturday's episode of Smurfs, Transformers, Batman, or DuckTales? What he watches and listens to, for that matter, move him like no one I have ever known. He is sentimental and romantic, in very deep ways.

And this is a guy of passion, who has always wanted to be the hero. He didn't just watch Braveheart, he wanted to be William Wallace. He didn't just watch The Count of Monte Cristo, he wanted to go see the Island for himself. Oh, you think you had the same experience watching those movies? You haven't met Robert.

This is a tragically romantic person we're talking about here, who dated more girls in grade school than you ever hoped for, but never thought he could get a girl (the irony always baffled his friends).

And the quirks. Oh, the quirks. Memories of chocolate chip cookie dough, Dr. Pepper, cinnamon rolls, chocolate milk, chicken tenders, hamburgers, fries with KETCHUP KETCHUP KETCHUP, chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce, did I mention Dr. Pepper?, sour cream and onion chips, chips and hot sauce... and not many other foods, are prominent. Memories at McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Real, El Chico, Chic Fil A, and Schlotsky's are many.

Memories of Robert wanting to "fit in" because he didn't realize he was already the life of the party, memories of him wishing to be another kind of person because he had a difficult time accepting that who he was was amazing and beautiful, memories of him mourning his unoriginality because he was blinded to the reality that he is possibly the most original guy I know.

So many memories that I have a hard time processing them and articulating them one by one, and so I give you generalities. But, you see, that is about all I can muster out. I have such a hard time remembering and articulating the many stories... but Robert won't. That's a huge quality you need to get about him. He remembers. He will read this and see the million or billion stories between the letters and lines in a way that I am unable to do. His mind is pure poetry. He is a baffling person: sometimes so predictable and others so utterly shocking. I write and ramble these words about him unpolished and not well thought out, trusting that what I know of him is true as always: he makes such beatiful meaning out of my poorest but best efforts.

I bet I'll talk to him in the next few days, and he'll tell me the many ways that this simple entry about him helped him remember, and then he'll go on telling me what he remembers and why that is meaningful to him. He may tell me how this or that I said inspired him or helped him understand something. He'll make me feel praised because of the way I wrote about him, and without much to say myself, I'll simply feel both humble and honored to be someone that means anything to him. Because he is a grand fellow. As if straight out of a movie, or a song.

(But he probably won't talk to me about any of this now, because I said he would, and in an effort cause my prediction to fail, he will not even answer his phone. Figures.)

An Imitation of Robert

I am taking a bunch of sixth through twelfth graders and adults to San Antonio tomorrow to see the Polar Express on the IMAX in 3D tomorrow and we are going to spend the day at Rivercenter Mall and the Riverwalk it's going to be so much fun to be out for a day trip! I hope. To watch a movie like that with snowflakes falling all around you and with the feeling that a train is coming right at you. Could be fun man just like when Robert the Bruce betrayed William Wallace and Wallace didn't know at first that it was him but when he found out he was like whoa man and his eyes glazed over and he just stumbled and gave up but the Bruce made sure that the other guy got him on his horse and took him to safety.

New paragraph bet you didn't see it coming... just like I didn't see it coming when Third Day came out with the song "Sky falls down, it crumbles into the sea, Sun goes out, You're comin' back for me." So tomorrow I'll be hanging out with all these students that I'm getting to know more and more all the time. Despite the awkwardness of them looking up to me and expecting things from me and me just wanting to have a good job and enjoy my life and maybe make some friends in the process, even if they are younger and know less. I'll talk to them about how you don't have to understand grace to experience it and live it and how Christ is present with us and loves us and desires for us to become more like him. And I won't say a word about how they should get saved or about how they should witness for his Name or Renown and I won't say "Father, Lord, Jesus will you God today just bless these students Lord God for your Glory because you are Mighty and Jesus Christ you just rock God and will you help us now to not drive by but park in your holy lot... for you are God, God" when I pray because I don't pray like that anymore.

Well, Karla gets out of school in a bit, and I pick her up at 4:10 in an illegal spot because it's more convenient even though I have to watch out for the Texas State security trucks because one guy came really close to ticketing me one day when I parked there for a second so that I wouldn't have to find a spot in that God-forsaken commuter lot, which is not, by the way, holy ground. So I spoke to Chi last night for 47 minutes and 26 seconds, and he helped me understand that when you make sushi you don't just need sticky rice, which is what we call medium grain rice that Asians use a lot, but specifically you need Glutinous rice which is extra-sticky. He knows this not because he makes sushi... he doesn't. He's Asian, but he's not Japanese you sillies! He is from Taiwan. So, he uses the regular stuff... regular ol' medium grain... not Glutinous. The only reason he knows about the Glutinous stuff is because Mariko is one of his best friends, and she lives in Japan and so he knows this somehow. He also has another Japanese girl who happens to be his friend (yes, that's right... Chi Chi is still his girl back in Taiwan but they are "laying low" for awhile in their relationship)...[which, by the way, is funny if you think about it because what the hell is laying high when you're on the other side of the globe]...this other girl is just his friend in Tampa Florida. He goes to the University of South Florida there but will try to get into either the University of Washington or Seattle Pacific University for a M.B.A. when he graduates this coming Spring.

Aye, aye ye landlubbers and don't forget to remember that line from Braveheart when William Wallace says, "Every man dies, but not every man truly lives."