Look Who I Found In Cedar City, UT!!

UPDATED Does this woman look familiar?

I was on a brief 3 day vacation in Cedar City with my boys last week and on the first evening there, was reading my e-mail through my cell phone when, low and behold, I received an e-mail from LaRae Hilton-Lemich. She had responded to an e-mail I shared about Pres. Faust's funeral. In her e-mail she said, "Did you know we moved to Cedar City last week?" Well, I sure did not know she moved and about fell down on the street of Cedar City when I realized, "HEY, I'm here, too!" So, I called Cedar City 411 and asked for any Lemich phone numbers, and, yep, I got the right number WITH an address text messaged to me. (Gotta love technology)

So, after going on and on about this exciting thing to my boys, who, by the way, got excited with me, I think as a courtesy. Next morning, Tuesday, I called LaRae, but she was not home at 9 am! "Where could she be?" I wondered. So, I called at 10 am...she had been out running - silly girl! So, we planned to meet at her new home and then go to lunch. They have moved to Cedar as her husband has "semi-retired" and they wanted to leave Wyoming. Their oldest is 21 and in college, their next boy is going on a mission soon, and the next one after that is heading to BYU. They have 2 more at home still. I had to laugh when she said they moved from "Wyoming to the 'big city' of Cedar"

It was so great to see her. I had not seen her since Grant was 3 and Devin was a baby - so it was fun to visit for a little while.

For me, LaRae represents a coming out of myself time in my life. A time when I needed a friend that I could trust and talk to. To me, LaRae was my best friend during my Junior year in High School and beyond. She accepted me even though I was so scared to be who I wanted to be - she just loved me anyway in spite of my flaws. I often wondered why she accepted me and was by best friend, but I know that God placed her in my life at that time to show me that someone of (what I perceived) her caliber could be a friend. After High School and when LaRae got married, we still stayed in touch. She wrote to me on my mission - even sent a cassette tape of her singing happy birthday to me, which if you recall, she has an excellent singing voice. We were in each other's weddings and then, over time, as is often the case, we sent Christmas cards, called on occasion...but never kept up really well. It is nice to know that even after 25 years, we can still see each other and have that spark of friendship one with another. I hope now that she is closer to Vegas that we might see each other sometimes.

There you have the full story. My kids kept saying to me, "What are the odds she would e-mail you when we were right her in the same town?" But I know, once again, God placed her in my life. I know why and I thank Him for being aware of my heart's needs.

AND, I thank LaRae for asking me if I am happy....perfect question.

PS - I am very happy.