Coming Home

Hugh was gone for 2 years and 13 days. And I wrote him EVERYDAY. That is NOT an exageration. EVERYDAY. Sometimes it was just a short note that I would write at work and stick in the mail. Sometimes it was a goofy t-shirt I made him that said something in puffy paint. Sometimes it was cookies. A tape I recorded for him. A video I made. Just something. Anything. To make sure he didn't forget me. I was crazy obsessed. (Just ask any one of my girlfriends.) He had so many letters from me that he only brought home 2 of them. And yes, he did write me. Once he even sent me a tape that he talked to me on! And once, he sent me a bracelet that was made out of leather that had HUGO stamped in it. Man, I LOVED that bracelet. (I still have it somewhere. The tape too.) Now, as you can imagine, a lot of what Hugh wrote to me was encouraging me (as any good missionary would do) to check out this book called The Book of Mormon. Which I did because Hugh asked me to. And I even met with two missionaries that were serving here in Arizona. I even let them teach me a few things. But at the time, it wasn't for me. I thought I could learn all I need to learn about Mormons from Hugh. Anyway, skip to August 15, 1991. The day. The glorious day of Hugh's return. I had the cutest shirt, and a nifty french braid in my hair. I went to the airport. I remember being so incredibly nervous. Then I saw him. Blond hair. Big smile. Coming down the tunnel that leads to the airplanes (this was back when you could actually go to the gate.) I saw Kort RUN to him and grab on to him. He stuck like glue. It was so sweet. I stood back and watched because I didn't know what to do. Again, the missionary thing. Would he break the rules this time and hug me?? Nope. He didn't. Just a very firm handshake. A hug would have to wait until he was officially released as a missionary. That happened the next day. So, I went over to his house. And we hugged. A long best friend hug. And it was everything I wanted it to be. That night, we went out to TGI Fridays with his best friend Gordie and his wife Sylvia. It was so great to be with him. And to hear him speak fluent Spanish. Sexy!! Oh wait, I can't think like that. We were still just friends......

That night at TGI Fridays.

Sorry for the horrible quality of the picture.

Again, scanned straight from my scrapbook.