Fare thee well, Jared and God Speed.

Adam came Friday at noon, Bethany and Sterling at five. They came to be with Jared, but Jared had a continual farewell party that lasted for weeks and built to a crescendo over the weekend. Thirty people for brunch on Sunday. Twenty four friends to church and only 4 were actual Mormons (and only four were boys.) His friends sat shoulder to hip without wiggle room between them. I’m told the many of the girls cried, but I couldn’t see them past my own tears.

A brand new deacon, age 12 and about 2 months, gave a general conference worthy talk on the snares of pornography. He spoke clearly and only occasionally looked up from his paper. He wasn’t embarrassed about his topic or his message, he seemed completely sincere, and I couldn’t help wondering what Jared’s friends thought. And then the bishop’s wife spoke on how the Book of Mormon and the bible complement each other and how both came to earth through tremendous sacrifice. Again, I wondered about Jared’s friends and how many of them would go home and try reading the Book of Mormon. She was followed by a young, handsome, articulate man who had been baptized the night before and bore his testimony about his conversion. And then a nine year old girl sang The Armies of Helamen – so sweet.

Finally, Jared spoke on the Doctrine of Christ; faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. After the meeting, Jared and his friends congregated and I went to primary.

Primary is the perfect place for me. I can sit behind the piano and cry and only a few notice. Because I’ve been playing for primary since I was 13, I can play through my tears. Because the room is filled with little kids, somebody is sure to say something funny and adorable. Every once and awhile, I’ll remember that my children were once darling, and I’ll miss the people that they used to be and the lives we lived together, and I’ll start to cry again and I’ll remember to be grateful for pianos, for my Heavenly Father who called me to sit behind one, and for the amazing people my children have become.