Before a Missionary, Just my Boy

Garrett, age six months

Three days before my birthday in 1992 a miracle joined the Spencer and Janet Sanders family.  A seven pound, seven ounce miracle we named Garrett Cole Sanders.  We were so excited.  Back in those days ultrasounds weren’t nearly as clear as they are today (I looked at the screen, smiled, nodded and wondered "Is that a baby, a squid, a space alien or..."), but we could have found out our baby's gender if we had wanted to.  We didn’t.  Spence said he didn’t care if we had a boy or a girl, but the absolute joy on this face when he saw our son betrayed his real feelings. 

Garrett has always brought joy to our family.  As a baby, he had blonde hair that would curl a little when it was on the long side.  He was happy and loving.  I got a little worried when he didn’t walk until he was 15 months old, but I had no cause.  Garrett was always bright- a big talker, and full of life.  One day when Garrett was really little, maybe two years old, and very tired he told us "I can't walk.  I need a wheelchair".

My superheroes

He was my little buddy when his sisters were in school.  He loved it when I would pick him up from pre-school and we would have salads with tuna on them.  Garrett always loved his salads.  He was the only kid on the block that would choose a Caesar Salad over a Happy Meal.

Garrett used to love to whistle.  He went through a period where he whistled all the time.    Just a happy little whistle. 

Garrett, age six

Not long after he started first grade Garrett came home one day and told me that he hated school, that it was stupid and boring.  What?  I went in and talked to his teacher.  She told me that she was pulling him out for reading and math because he was so far ahead of the rest of the kids, but that it wasn't really working.  She just couldn’t keep up with him.  He had another little friend, a tiny girl, who was in the same boat, and I remember how excited Garrett was when that friend brought him a Biology textbook (a college text?) as a present to read.  For fun. 

Age 11

We had him tested and he began to attend school in  ALPS (our district’s Accelerated Learners Program).  He stayed there through the ninth grade.  In ALPS Garrett made friends of all kinds- the “cool” kids, the jocks, the preps, the skate-boarders-but also the Steve-Erkel-esque little boy who wore his pants too high and did nothing but put together unbelievable Lego creations.  Garrett played trumpet in the Jazz band, skate boarded, learned a lot, and generally had a good time, no matter what. 

Garrett was always that way.  When I went with him for high school registration his senior year and walked down the halls nearly everyone we passed seemed to know him.  Red mohawk boy, music nerd, football player, the Molly Mormons and the “skanks”.  He has always had a gift with people.  Garrett decided to try to finish his Associates degree while he was still in high school.  He came close, always got good grades (except for a bit of a slip his ninth grade year, when I was going through my Cancer treatment, but that is a different post for a different day) did his homework without being nagged, and generally even seemed to like his parents through his teen years.  His room wasn’t always the cleanest, his haircut wasn’t always my favorite, but , seriously, very little drama.  We tell all of our older kids that they were just too easy, and that’s why we adopted their little brothers.  Lucas joined our family when Garrett was ten. 

Garrett, 13, with Lucas and Max

Speaking of his little brothers, one time, not long after we adopted Lucas and Max, someone at church pulled Garrett aside and asked him “So, what do you REALLY think about your parents adopting these boys?”  Garrett told him, much to his surprise, that he was glad.  And, I think, he generally has been glad.  He’s told me many times that our house would be boring without his little brothers.  I think that having the boys around has helped him stay grounded, and less self-centered than he might have been otherwise. I think that Garrett is confident, smart and good looking enough that he could have been one of the popular/snotty kids- maybe even a kid who would have accepted membership into the “posse” he was once invited to join.  He doesn't see the world through the eyes of entitlement- he's seen what it is to struggle, and that life isn't always easy or fair.  

Garrett and his cousin Chase 2010

Amen, Garrett.

And so, the years fly by and Garrett grows up.  The nineteenth birthday approaches, time for all young Latter Day Saint boys to consider serving a mission- giving up two years of their lives in the service of others and the Lord.  Wow.  


Next time, The Road to the MTC.