Special day June 4

June 4, 2024, Tuesday morning, 7:07am, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California,USA. Today I am remembering my dad, it is his birthday. He would be 83 this year. I am also thinking of mom. Today was their wedding anniversary. There are also thoughts of 1996. That year I was 24, a seminarian, and just starting my required unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. But mostly I am remembering 2003. My first summer as a Hospice Chaplain in Ogden, Utah. This morning has been special. I have been able to completely immerse myself remembering that time. I recall how everything felt new, yet familiar. There was so much promise of the future. I was fixated on getting to the one year anniversary of moving to Valencia, California. I wanted the college football season to start so I could grab a coffee and cinnamon roll from Maverik and drive to Wendover, Nevada to bet on games. That summer it was just me and my dog, Tucker, living in Layton, working during the week then driving to Wyoming to spend the weekend with family. I hope for the remainder of this summer I can be lost in that memory. I am exhausted from focusing on current circumstances. I need a fresh perspective that can only come from being lost in the past.