I’ve always thought the image of someone riding off into the sunset was pretty cool, and my buddy Brett is one of the few people I know who could actually do it. Brett’s a pretty dynamic guy, but in my mind he’s always been a cowboy. Part of this may be because we met on the way to a barn dance back in our YSA days. Later on, after spending some time as home teaching companions, he was my wingman in the University 32nd Ward Elder’s Quorum Presidency at a time when I really needed a wingman. Along the way we embarked on some crazy adventures, like one time we had to tow some school-skipping teens out of the snow after an afternoon of shooting guns way up in the mountains above Bountiful, and, on another memorable evening, crashing a disco bowling party in full ‘70s attire, only to discover it wasn’t a disco party at all. I didn’t follow Brett on all of his adventures, but maybe I should have, since he eventually met his wife country swing dancing in Utah County and set out on a life of domestic tranquillity. Nowadays my cowboy friend is riding for the Highway Patrol out in Eastern Utah, and diving headfirst into a relatively new passion for beekeeping. I was lucky enough to meet up with him last year on a trip out to Dinosaur National Monument, and I was even more lucky to catch him while he was in Salt Lake a couple months back, when we grabbed dinner at one of my favorite Thai places downtown. There are certain people who always make me smile whenever I think of them, and Brett has a choice spot on that list.
It has been fun this year to use my lunch portrait project to reconnect with longtime friends and catch up on old times, but I’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to get to know newer friends better along the way. For several years, Jason’s name would pop up in conversation between mutual friends (he’s part of my sister’s graduating class), and I think we crossed paths once or twice in the process of attending group dinners. It wasn’t until about a year ago that Jason and I interacted directly, at a weekend excursion to Red Iguana II with our mutual friend Tyler. What I found was that Jason is an easy guy to make friends with, which kind of makes sense, considering he’s made his career in Human Resources. He’s a glue guy. He’s also a bit of a movie guy, so last summer we met up early at Cafe Rio before attending my press screening of “Angel Has Fallen” to shoot the bull and talk career stuff—after growing up in Utah, his path has taken him to the DC area and back in the last several years. And of course, Jason was agreeable enough to let me immortalize the moment. Because that’s what glue guys do.
