Day 4. Jackson and Troy wanted to revisit their old hike up Thunderbird Park. They found a huge beehive on their hike, which of course Jackson thought was amazing. They took some fun pictures at the top with views of the now finished Phoenix Temple in the background. We have very similar pictures from two years ago. How much Jackson has grown! He needs to stop that. Also, how cute are Jackson's little poses? He picks those out all on his own.
After they returned from their hike, we went to another Spring Training practice, this time in Surprise. The Rangers were gone, so we watched the Kansas City Royals. I have never seen so many people at a Spring Training practice in my life. It was so busy! We went to the far end of the fields to watch batting practice, and to avoid the crowds. As we were walking, Jackson told me, "Mom, I hope I get a ball." to which I replied, "I know Jackson, I hope so too. But we'll just have to see, okay? It's okay if you don't." A coach was driving past us in a golf cart while we were having this conversation. A second later, I noticed he had circled back around and as he passed us for the second time, he rolled a baseball out of the cart in front of Jackson. Jackson was THRILLED. A little later another coach threw Jackson a ball while he and Troy were playing catch on the lawn. So sweet. I love Spring Training. Baseball really does take care of its fans.
That afternoon, I stayed with Clara and Gray for their naps while Troy took Jackson to the "little park." This was the small HOA park in our neighborhood. It didn't have much in it, but we would walk over to it quite a bit, meeting the Wahlstroms and Petersons to ride bikes or eat lunch. The picture Troy took from the park looking out into the street almost made me cry. I miss those days!
By dinner that evening, Troy and I were tired of feeling sad. It seemed like everything we saw reminded us of days gone by and far away friends. Because of this, we decided we would leave the next morning. It was a day early, but we had done most of what we wanted to do, (Besides seeing our favorite Francis family! We couldn't coordinate a day with them. Next time, for sure.) and I told Troy I felt emotionally drained from being surrounded by all these memories.
After dinner we decided to take a walk to the school. We walked around the grounds and we were immediately reminded of so many unpleasant school memories from our first two years at Midwestern. Ha. It was then that I realized I had been comparing all our happy memories from the end of 4th year (when Troy was home ALL the time and we were so excited for the future) to our current situation with residency hours and being worn out on the whole medical journey. It's not a fair comparison. Those first two years of medical school were rough. I remember hating Arizona and feeling so homesick I almost felt physically ill. I remember Troy studying for 15 hours every Saturday. Troy not coming home from school until 10 pm. Us going straight to bed, only to start over the next day. I had forgotten all of this. It made me realize how grateful I am to be where we are. I don't want to be back in med school. At all.
At the end of our walk, we ran into a first year D.O. student having trouble with her car battery. She told us how much she was hating school and we completely understood. We told her that it would get better. Time would keep passing and it would be over before she knew it. I remember not believing that when we were in her place. Five years later, and time's still passing. Learning to enjoy the "now" is an art I'm still trying to develop. This experience was a good reminder to live in the present. It was the perfect end to our trip.
I shared our experience with the 1st year student on Instagram. Stacy left this comment in response: "You probably left a good impression on the 1st year. President Monson shared a quote from Music Man that I think of often: “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.” I'm always having to remind myself that today will never come again, and to enjoy it while it lasts." Such wise words.
I'll be forever grateful for our time in Arizona. Arizona will always hold a special place in our hearts. But, I am so grateful to be in Utah, now. To be near family. To be plugging along in residency. To have our house. And to watch our kids grow and learn new things in THIS stage of our lives. I never want memories of the past to distract me from the memories we are making NOW. What a good lesson Heavenly Father provided for us. It was a good trip indeed.
