Longboard Larry is in the House

I will honestly admit that there was a time when having Larry around was not fun for me. Of course that was in my young, immature, barely 20 year old, newlywed state when he would show up at our house just as we were headed to the den of romance.

Oh. Who is Larry? Larry Jay Peterson, Jr. (Now known as LongBoard Larry, because he makes long board skateboards and people pay him for it. Sweet!) Larry has been Josh's best friend since he was 15 when he moved to Salem, Or. when his mom married his step dad. These two were inseparable from then until they both went on their missions (Josh to Japan, Larry to Ogden Utah...no not everyone in Utah is a Mormon.) Upon returning from their missions they started back right where they parted. Josh and my first date, and 95% of all our dates during courtship were spent with Larry and his girlfriend (now wife and mother of his four sons), Laura. Even after we were married we spent most of our weekends and many of our evenings with them. Seemed we were always with Larry and Laura. Often times I have referred to Larry as "Josh's first wife". At first I felt a little jealous and second fiddle, and I was sure he didn't even like me (whine, whine, 20 year old immaturity), but it didn't take long for me to see why these guys were best friends.

Larry is the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back. If Josh was in need of help to fix a car, do a project, any kind of support, Larry was there in a flash and stayed until the need was filled and project complete. It was evident to me relatively quickly that Larry was loyal to the core and he would be there, not only for Josh but for me if I needed him. I will admit, there were still times I wished at 11:30p.m. that he wasn't at that moment knocking on my door, but I quickly learned to appreciate this guy.

It has been nearly 8 years since I have seen Larry, and now here he is. I actually have not yet seen him, as he got here in the wee hours this morning after I had already retired to my bed. But I see evidence of his arrival in the form of 4 long boards in my front room.

Larry thinks Oregon is the greatest place on earth! My goal is to show him Texas is pretty awesome too, and MUCH SUNNIER!

Mostly I am just excited for Josh to have his buddy here. He has not had some good male bonding time in a while. And there is just something magical about spending time with your life's longest friend. I often give credit to Larry's father, Larry Jay Senior, for teaching Josh how to be an amazing man, husband and father. He was a superb example for Josh and I will ever be grateful for his influence and development of the goodness that is my sweetheart!