Sunday, May 6, 2018

We are okay

I have had so many people calling, texting and messaging me, I am going to try to start posting updates on here. Hopefully, I can express the experiences, blessings and miracles of these past few days in a coherent way. Thank you so much to everyone for your prayers and well wishes. They mean so much! If I do not respond immediately to comments and questions, please forgive me and don't panic. We are taking this all a moment at a time. But Britt is going to be okay. We are okay.

Early Friday morning, Britt quietly got up and dressed, packed some gear for the next two days and headed up to Provo on his BMW motorcycle. He left in plenty of time to make the 4 1/2 hour drive from Blanding so that he could watch Rachel compete at the BYU Invitational track meet. I did not join him, because our youngest daughter, Olivia was running for Student Body Secretary at the middle school, and I was staying with her so she could go to school and then find out the results.

She won, by the way. And Rachel had some awesome races, getting a PR in both the 100 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles. Britt was there and he kept me updated. Our niece, Hannah was also running in a track meet at the high school in Herriman. She goes to school in St. George, and competes in some of the same events as Rachel. Britt got to watch her run the 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles. She had awesome races as well, and it was a great day for Britt and his sister Jennilyn to spend some time together. After watching the races, Britt and Jennilyn went to eat dinner at Cafe Rio in Herriman.

At home, Olivia and I had a fun girls day, celebrating her achievement. I cut and died her hair, and we went out to Patio to enjoy a dinner out together, as well. Tyler had spent the past two days on a school trip in Salt Lake, learning about history and other cool experiences and watching the Broadway play Hamilton. She and her friends had a memorable time, and I couldn't wait to hear more about it.

At around 8:30, I texted Britt to ask if he knew what time Tyler and the buses of students would be getting home. He responded that he wasn't sure. Soon after, I heard from my sister, who told me the buses had just left Orem. I texted Britt to let him know, and he responded that he was just leaving Herriman after eating dinner with his sister, and on his way to my parents' home in Santaquin. The last message I texted him was "Okay, sounds good. Drive safely."

I did some laundry, read a book, and worked on a couple projects. It was a simple, lazy day. I waited to hear from Britt, but I was not alarmed when I still hadn't heard from him at 10.

At 10:11, my phone rang. The number was not one I recognized, from Salt Lake. A weird time for a marketing call, or whatever, but I didn't think much of it. I just answered.

I couldn't tell you his name, but he told me he was a social worker at the University of Utah Hospital. 

Then I knew something was wrong.