In 1998, I moved to Salt Lake City to work at a tv station.   It was the first time I'd been really far from home.  There's nothing quite like watching your mom, dad and brother drive away, knowing the only person you really know in the town is your new boss.  It was an emotional time for all of us.  My apartment was in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake. But not long after I moved in, I realized the midwest wouldn't feel so far away after all.  That's because my upstairs neighbors were from Aberdeen.  Ross & Kristi were newlyweds and since I was a Nebraska girl, they immediately gave me grief about being a Husker fan.  But as the weeks and months went by, we got to be really close friends.  We would dog-sit for each other, go to church together and hang out on the weekends.  It was nice to be able to talk about "midwestern" things that only someone who was from there could understand.

About a year into my time in Salt Lake, Kristi found out she was expecting. It seems we became even closer during that time, since she was going through an entirely new set of experiences. I remember sitting up in their apartment playing Trivial Pursuit. Ross and I would compete, while Kristi read the questions.  We'd often have to stop because Kristi would crave food and Ross would have the task of figuring out what she wanted to snack on while we played the board game.  When their first son was born, life changed dramatically for all of us.  I decided it was time to return to the midwest, while Ross & Kristi pursued new endeavors in Idaho.  We left Utah within weeks of each other.  While we stay in touch with Christmas cards and the occasional email,  I haven't actually seen Ross, Kristi (they now have 3 boys) since I left Utah.

The other day I got an email from Ross's mom.  It seems Ross & Kristi have moved back to the midwest as well. I'm hoping we'll get to meet up at sometime soon.  But after reading the email, I thought about just how lucky I was to meet Ross & Kristi at just the right time.  Their apartment became like a home away from home for me....somewhere I could go and not feel quite so far away from the things I knew best.  I believe everyone comes into your life for a reason, and Ross & Kristi are a prime example of that.  I hope they look back on our time in Utah, with as fond of memories as I do.