Meet Uncle Bud (I have no idea what his "real" name is...except for what he told us to call him, so he's Uncle Bud). Uncle bud is one of those people who you can't help but start a conversation with while in the airport. While on our way to our cruise to the Bahamas, we met Uncle Bud, who was sitting quietly near gate A2 in the Salt Lake International Airport. When he noticed a good looking group such as us, Bud struck up a conversation with me. Come to find out, Uncle Bud is a 72-year-old man from Northern Florida who was in Idaho for his older brother's funeral. The brother, who was 80 years old, had multiple forms of cancer throughout his body, but died after living a full life. Bud reminisced about his brother and eventually told us of his life. He was originally from Blackfoot, Idaho and attended Utah State University...which we won't hold against him. After college, he went into the US Air Force where he flew over 100 missions in Vietnam alone. He's traveled all around the world while working as a training pilot.
After a while, he asked the question you almost always hear at SLC: "Are you guys LDS?" To which we answered in the affirmative. He then proceeded to tell us how much the church means to him. In all of his travels throughout the globe, people always comment on how he doesn't smoke, drink, or swear, which always opens up a gospel conversation. What a great man and an awesome example.
Well, a couple of nights later, our waiter on the Majesty of the Seas noticed that none of us ordered alcohol. He asked us where we were from. When we answered Utah, he said, "Ohhhhhhh. That's why you don't drink! You must be Mormons!" That's right. We stood out, too. Thank's Uncle Bud!
Oh, by the way. The first person I met at our first port of call...a Weber State Graduate. What a small world!
