Samantha Brooke

I am absolutely hating this whole growing up thing.. it was all fun and games until I actually grew up. I think that saying bye to all of your childhood friends is the hardest part. Whether, Its a mission, college, moving away, or just moving on. No one can ever really prepare you for the real thing. While I was in Utah I had to say bye to my best friend Sam for 2 years. Sam is my only friend who can turn my day right around. The whole time I have been out here I have turned to him for advice, comfort, and a good laugh. We had talked about saying bye. Whether we were going to go the dramatic route or the band aid route. And well you can't really plan it out ahead of time..

It all started Friday morning when I found myself sitting in the middle of the missionary Isle in Desert Book. I went their to get some new scriptures.. and I ended up looking at gifts for Sam. That's when it hit me that he is actually going to be gone. We had plans that night to go to dinner but my week had been so busy we both knew we weren't really going to get in that much quality time and figured we would save it for the last day I was there.

  So I go and pick him up for dinner and we are about half way there when he tells me that he was going to go with Erin and Heidi after dinner to the summer fest and that we would do Sam/Sammy day Saturday. Furiously I flip a U and start taking him back to his house. He asks me where I am going and I just start yelling at him.. which turns into gibberish because I am holding back tears. "It's okay just go with them. WHATEVER" Sam confused, calls Heidi and bails. " There I'm yours all night! You don't have to cry.. " I start bawling " I'm just going to miss you!" There in my review mirror is Chelsey in the back seat bawling.. "Chelsey why are YOU crying?" The whole night was a mix of emotions. At dinner we got deep about the church and weren't exactly in our usual classic moods. Afterward we lightened up and went to the summer fest where we ran into every possible awkward person we could.. which killed the mood and made it better at the same time. After that we went to cascade park where I could go to the bathroom. Chelsey and Sam sit on the picnic table and I go into the bathroom... When I come out I find Sam bawling.. The first time I have ever seen him cry. We sit and talk about the good times and cry. That of course was followed by our very last Taylor Swift Drive where we continued to belt and cry to Never Grow Up. When I dropped him off that night we were perfectly fine because we still had tomorrow. Saturday came and we met up with Sam and went to chills.. again for dessert so that I could say goodbye to everyone. We made it through the whole night as usual. And then it came time for me to give him his present and drop him off.. I go to my trunk to pull out his present and there is his journal and Russian spiritual terms book covered in the Chocolate truffles that I had bought for the Schmidt's.. I wipe off the chocolate and hand him his card. Both of us with tears in our eyes say goodbye. Sam gets out of the car and walks into his house. I drive off and burst out bawling.. talk about  that for dramatic.

 I am going to miss my best friend so much but I am so proud of him and I know that he is going to kill it in Russia. I swore to him that I would still be single and ready to party when he gets home and I plan on upholding my end of the bargain.