Soldier

This post is probably going to be really cheesy and emotional, so for the record, you've been warned! I'm writing it mostly for my benefit, but I wanted to get it all written down. On Tuesday, a good friend of mine was killed in Afghanistan. This news hit me so hard. I hear about soldiers passing away all the time, and I never really think about it more than just thinking, "that's so sad." This time, it hit me a little closer to home and I'll forever be more sensitive and thankful for our wonderful soldiers. Anyone who knows me, knows that at times I can be preeeetty dramatic. The thing I loved about Cody, was that he would sit there and listen to me be emotional, sometimes for hours, and just talk to me and never complain. When we first became friends a few years ago, I was having a lot of anxiety about other things and was really stressed out all the time. I mentioned to him once that I had a hard time sleeping at night, and after that for a month or two he would sit on the phone with me every single night until I fell asleep. I would wake up to my phone laying on bed, sometimes with the call time being 2 hours or more. I'm so thankful for that.. I can't imagine the amount of patience a person would have to have to do that. I wish I expressed my gratitude and love for our friendship to him a little more. Cody had the most sarcastic personality I have ever seen, and I loved it. He was SO funny and so much fun to be around. But it's crazy what you learn about a person when you have heart to heart talks nightly and while sitting in Partyland (where we worked and met)filling up balloons. He was actually a lot more than the funny guy, he was so sweet. He truly, truly cared for people. 

After a few months of friendship, he figured out that I loved baked potatoes, and I was working one night and he called and said he was picking me up from work. He did, and we ended up going to get baked potatoes.. it doesn't sound like a big deal, but I cherish that sweet gesture. 

I remember the first time he ever texted me, he called Partyland and asked one of my co-workers for my phone number. It was my 20th birthday and he texted me and said, "One more year until you can buy me beer." He didn't ever drink or anything, that was just his sense of humor. And I love that he sent that to  me before we even knew each other.. haha, who does that!

He would always text me when he was going to be working in the Orem store (the one I worked in) so I could hurry and switch my shift with someone and we would be able to work together. We had way too much fun together. One night we went to Arctic Circle for milkshakes, and there was a note on the napkin dispenser that said, "DO NOT take more napkins than you need!" For some reason we thought that was hilarious, so I took a picture and we continued to send that picture back and forth for about a year. Laughed every time.

Cody and I got in a few weird, random arguments about stupid things- I think mostly just for argument's sake, I assume because we're both stubborn. But every time he would later send me a text and say, "Hurry and text me, I'm sick of ignoring you." or "Sorry I annoyed you with my friendship." or something along those lines. They always made me laugh and I will really miss that.

He would always poke fun at me because I would call, text, or facebook message him every time I was upset. He joked about how I needed to start paying him to be my counselor! Haha. He and I got in one of our arguments a few months ago (right before he left for Afghanistan) and we didn't talk for about three months.. SO STUPID! But, the Lord loves us and he brings us exactly what we need when we need it. Recently I really wanted one of my "counseling sessions" from him so I emailed him on Facebook (no texting or calls to Afghanistan.) He responded to me and said, "Do you need a loan or something?" hahahaha! I could not stop laughing. But, I am more grateful than I could even put into words that I felt so upset and wanted to talk to him. Because we were able to make amends and our last couple of months were full of playful banter over Facebook. I am so thankful for that... what a blessing.

I realize this post is ALL over the place, and probably boring to most people. But I wanted to write down some of my favorite memories while they're still fresh on my memory.

So lastly, to end on a lighter note, one of my other favorite things about Cody:

HIS PERFECT TEETH! Are you kidding me? Look at those! I'm really going to miss this friend of mine, and his back-handed compliments, making me laugh like nobody else, counseling sessions, and genuinely kind heart. But I know he'll watch over me from up there just like he did down here. I'm so thankful to him and all of our other fallen soldiers who truly gave their lives for us. What an incredible gift.