BIG Em!

The first day of school in sixth grade is one I won't forget. I was nervous like most kids are on the first day of school. Worried you won't be able to find your class and be on time, hoping you can open your new locker with a new combination in less than five minutes so you can grab your books and be to your next class (on time!). My first class of sixth grade I was seated next to a girl named Tiffannie. Right away I new we would be friends. She had the coolest trapper keeper with the New Kids on the Block across the front, and the coolest color of red hair I had ever seen. The first week of school I was riding the bus home with her to hang out at her house. Her family was awesome. Her parents were so easy to talk to. Right away her dad gave me a nickname that has stuck with me since that first day of sixth grade: BIG Em. He would always play games with us in the backyard, take us to movies, and when one of my friends was old enough to drive he let us borrow his truck so we could go be teenagers and hang out at the mall. That is what we did back then.
He always believed in our ability to do well in school and to be all around good kids. He was always encouraging whatever dream we had for the future. He even let me work one summer with him, Tiffannie and her brother. We did rock mason. I know me doing rock mason. We helped with some HUGE houses in Park City. One of the Jazz players drove by in a sweet car, but I don't know who he was. It was just pointed out to me as he drove past. It was my first celebrity sighting. I remember hauling a wheelbarrow full of mud/cement to put around the rocks when my friends dad pointed out some roofers who were trying to get me and my friends attention at which I was completely clueless and lost control and dumped gallons of mud/cement all over. I was so scared her dad would get mad but as I looked up he was laughing and walking over to help pick the wheel barrow up. He always had a sense of humor, and an easy going attitude. I'm so sad that this will be his last week with us. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor about two years ago, and is only expected to live through the weekend. I'm so sad. Tiff's family was a second family to me for years. I know he will be in a better place, be his old self again, and surrounded and welcomed by family. I'll miss you Nathan Goodrich!