Good Buddy Mitch

Oh the extreme sadness.

Yesterday I celebrated my 33rd year of life by attending the funeral of a dear friend. He was our good buddy Mitch Menlove. He was 36 years old and had a heart attack Sunday morning while sleeping next to his wife, Elizabeth, who is due to have their 4th child in 2 weeks. We love them both so dearly and my heart continues to break into smaller and smaller pieces. The funeral was an opportunity to celebrate Mitch and the incredible life that he lived. There were pictures up everywhere, some of which I had taken and made me cry and smile at the same time - and when an image of Matt & Mitch popped up in the video photo montage, Matt and I both let out a cheer. Another picture came up of when Mitch and Elizabeth brought Max to visit us in Rocky Point - and Matt and I looked at each other and started laughing as we remembered them trying to climb the huge sand hill in their jeep and having to get a fast start which caused him to launch off a hill and sent us all to our knees with waves of laughter. We loved telling stories and laughing, that was what we did when we were together.

We met the Menloves in Central ward about 11 years ago. We were on the back row and they slipped in late beside us. Elizabeth grabbed a piece of paper and began writing us questions - we went to a Dbacks game that week and were inseparable during the next year. When Max was born later that year, Matt and I rushed to the hospital and held him when he was only 10 minutes old. Then Matt and Mitch went and broke into their apartment that had been locked by Jack Jack the butt-crack :).

Mitch nick-named my mom "Special K" a name that has spurred on my own nickname for Ella "K-K". Both sides of our family have welcomed and loved Mitch and Elizabeth.

When I was primary chorister and Mitch was teaching the 11 yr. old boys - we played Name that Tune during Sharing time - we had played a few songs and I had turned around after telling the piano player the next song and one of his boys yelled out "Popcorn Popping"! I was so stunned that he had guessed the correct song before a note had even played that I was left momentarily speechless...Mitch seeing my shock and realizing the boy had guessed the right one...exclaimed "the Church is TRUE!"

Perhaps one of the funniest memories was when Mitch walked up to meet us for something with his zipper completely down and shirt pulled through it (Matt seemed to have his zipper down EVERY time we were with them and poor Elizabeth always had to be the one to notice) so Mitch just showed up knowing that Matt's zipper would be down (of course it was) and he said "Oh - I just thought that's how we roll...zippers down all the time!

We love Mitch and Elizabeth and their 3 children who are in good hands. Its good to laugh and smile it makes the hurt and pain and sadness run away - if only for a few minutes.

http://www.mitchmenlove.com/