So that's why...

Sometimes I think we meet people or find ourselves in situations that we dont understand at the time because someday down the road we are going to either be thankful for the person or the situation.

One situation I found myself in occurred during my first semester of graduate school. In my epidemiology class we were all assigned a topic and a partner and told to come back with a research paper (there were more directions but it has been a few years). When the paper was initially assigned I remember being ticked- a partner paper? You have got to be kidding me!, but it worked out. My partner was great, and although the topic is pretty fuzzy to me now, I think I needed to write that paper so my partner could become a dear friend.

One other situation/person I have to add in, is one of Brian's old mission companions (to be fair another old companion is the reason we met, but that is a story for another day). When I met Bri I heard all about his roommate and former mission companion and one day I met him for myself. To say that may have had a few differences of opinion would be putting it mildly, but he was Brian's good friend, and despite our differences he was a nice guy. Bri and I got married, and wouldnt you guess, this friend was at the wedding, and then a few months later he got married too. He married an awesome girl, really not enough good can be said about her, and after a few months I got to thinking, "maybe she is why we needed to stay in touch with him" (obviously there are more reasons too, you know like him being one of Brian's closest friends).  I have to say that despite what we are to them, they have been a huge blessing in our lives. I think they are the friends you wish you had, the ones where you can have an awful day and still hang out, the kind where your child can be screaming and still you know they are willing to put up with them and you because they have those days too, the kind where you and your husband can have a slight disagreement in front of and it isnt that awkward and they know that you still love each other. These are the types of friends people wish they had (although I still maintain that it is better to live in the same state as those type of friends). So I will continue to think to myself that Brian was sent to the coast in Argentina to be with Elder X so that someday his wife could be my best (yes best, even though we chat less often than we should, and see each other even less often) friend.

So today, think to yourself, "even though today I am having a bad hair day, I burned dinner, and the irritating NPR pledge drive is never going to end, something might happen that I look back on in 5 years and say, so that's why..."