He finished two bowls that morning.
Two days later he walked in, late, dressed in proper school attire (without the infamous brown caribo-or-something fleece blanket). He discreetly went to grab his scriptures while the instructor continued teaching. "Rarrrrrmmmm." We all look to see where the loud sound came from. He had sounded a horn he found in the Primary's toy closet.
A few weeks later. We are driving in his car. I'm fiddling around in Angelina's (the name of his monstrous white truck, who just so happened to have just gotten some new "kicks", as he so proudly pointed out) center console, discovering all sorts of treasures like his light-up mouth "grillz" and diamond studded chains. The kid thought he was a rapper, especially on the days he wore his navy jumpsuit. But today, he was singing Michael Buble. It was a very important day. This is the day I found out Travis could sing. I tested him by choosing a few other songs on his genre-diverse ipod. Flawless on every single one. We have sung Chris Brown & Jordin Spark's duet of "No Air" in the car together ever since.
A year later. Senior year is winding down, but the final activities are just starting to gear up, including the first year of Mr. Wolfpack, which I was stressfully planning. I begged Travis to be one of the contestants (it was a male beauty pageant). I knew he would make it unforgettable. At one point, I even think I recall using blackmail....he was nervous about the talent portion. I told him to sing. And I recited his car-concert repertoire. He had it in the bag. No practice was even necessary.
He sang "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." I was so proud.
We graduated. I moved away to Utah. He moved away to Utah. I was overly depressed about this strange, new phase of life and the loss of a boyfriend that meant a lot to me. He was overly depressed about the strange, new phase of life and the loss of a girlfriend that meant a lot to him. He got me through it. I tried to do the same.
He moved back home. We both lived our separate lives and he eventually started preparing for the day I hoped would come but was dreading at the same time, his mission.
To Concepcion, Chile.
I received this in an email from him a few days ago: ".... next good story has to do with a noche de hogar (family night) we had with my favorite fam here, the Oportus'. They are hilarious. They think to speak English you just put a -tion at the end of any spanish word haha. Like to pray, orar, but to make it english they say oration. Ha oh man. Anyways, ya somehow even here in Chile they found about my singing. Yes that's no lie my friend, my singing at Mr. Wolfpack. Oh my word, thats all I have to say. Soooo..they made me sing it in front of 20 Chileans, haha it was so funny. My companion died laughing."
It's been days and I'm still dying of both laughter and nostalgia. He's the best, funniest, kindest person I've met. Amongst all the hilarious moments he's provided, he has also had some that are more mellow and sweet--like the time I was extremely sick from food poisoning and was left in charge of house sitting and two children under the age of four for a weekend. While I was doing my best to keep my head out of the toilet, he was playing Animals with them upstairs and folding the laundry. Or the time he fed my horses for a week while my family was in Hawaii. Or the time he stayed up until three in the morning quizzing me for an exam I had to take the next day. Or the time he made me the best birthday card the world has ever seen, complete with rhinestones and the Trump towers. He's a one-of-a-kind friend. And again, I'm beyond proud of him.
For those who aren't as youtube informed as the Chileans:
1 comment:
Ahhhhh yes TCON---my absolute favorite of all the guys you have ever brought home. So proud of him too.
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