Daryl and his daughter...
During our visit to Ephrata this weekend, we got yo see Daryl and Connie Stocking.
Daryl and I have an interesting history. We met some time in February of 1992 while riding a bus from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to Retalhuleu. He could probably tell you the exact date. He always remembers numbers, dates, and complex math problems.
Anyway, we were both serving an LDS mission and became friends.
After the mission, he called me from his home in Idaho Falls. I'm not sure what came over me, but some time during our conversation, I told him he needed to move to Spokane. "You'll find a wife here. You're never going to find the right marriage partner in Idaho."
Oddly enough, he followed my advice and came to Spokane. Less than two weeks later, he met Connie and got engaged. They were married in the Seattle Temple and settled down in the Spokane area. They even lived with us for a while down on Felony Flats.
As if the story weren't strange enough already, I also found out he and I are distant cousins. We share a common ancestor from colonial Connecticut, way back in the 1600s.
You would think being related, serving the same mission, and living in the same town would give us plenty of opportunities to build a really close friendship. Sadly, we live in parallel worlds, and rarely cross paths. He eventually moved to Ephrata, and now we see him even less than before.
Well, I decided to break the trend and make sure to visit before leaving Ephrata. Luckily, I caught him right before he left for a two week military exercise in Yakima. We probably stayed more than an hour and I remember why I liked Daryl so much. He's the goofiest guy you'll ever meet, but he's very humble and sincere. I know he'll be my friend for as long as we're both alive, and probably longer than that.
Daryl and I have an interesting history. We met some time in February of 1992 while riding a bus from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to Retalhuleu. He could probably tell you the exact date. He always remembers numbers, dates, and complex math problems.
Anyway, we were both serving an LDS mission and became friends.
After the mission, he called me from his home in Idaho Falls. I'm not sure what came over me, but some time during our conversation, I told him he needed to move to Spokane. "You'll find a wife here. You're never going to find the right marriage partner in Idaho."
Oddly enough, he followed my advice and came to Spokane. Less than two weeks later, he met Connie and got engaged. They were married in the Seattle Temple and settled down in the Spokane area. They even lived with us for a while down on Felony Flats.
As if the story weren't strange enough already, I also found out he and I are distant cousins. We share a common ancestor from colonial Connecticut, way back in the 1600s.
You would think being related, serving the same mission, and living in the same town would give us plenty of opportunities to build a really close friendship. Sadly, we live in parallel worlds, and rarely cross paths. He eventually moved to Ephrata, and now we see him even less than before.
Well, I decided to break the trend and make sure to visit before leaving Ephrata. Luckily, I caught him right before he left for a two week military exercise in Yakima. We probably stayed more than an hour and I remember why I liked Daryl so much. He's the goofiest guy you'll ever meet, but he's very humble and sincere. I know he'll be my friend for as long as we're both alive, and probably longer than that.
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