Summers with Wes

I just heard the news of Wes's passing. After reading all the touching
postings on the blog and crying on the phone with Vince for a while, I
finally got control of my emotions long enough to jot down a few
disjointed thoughts and memories of the most Christlike person I've
ever known. So many of my memories of Wes are of summer---from the
carefree summers of our childhood to our "summer of thunder" as
college roommates, where Wes and Ryan convinced Lori and Amy to marry
them. The last summer that I saw Wes and Lori was one filled with hope
and excitement for the future. We were a bunch of newlyweds ready to
sail through anything life could throw at us. I'm confident Wes and
Lori were more prepared than the rest of us for what lie ahead and
must have stored up some extra reserves to carry them through these
Job-like trials. The celestial relationship that Wes and Lori have has
and will forever be an inspiration to Lindsay and me and to the
countless others they lifted and blessed. Now it's summer again, and
I'm really missing Wes.

The first summer that I met Wes was as a 5 year-old climbing over the
fence to Vince's house as his cousins pulled in from Kansas (in a
white van with a green stripe as I remember it). Wes's subsequent
summer visits became the highlight of the year for me, Vince, and Mike
(and later Neal and Nate). Each visit turned into a crazy new
adventure---jumping off waterfalls in the canal, camping at the caves,
and building a 25 ft. tall zipline with an old bike (something only
Wes's ingenuity, patience, and sheer willpower could pull off).

Those adventures continued into high school and then college, where
Wes used the same creativity, perseverance, and brilliance that made
our childhood summers so magical for an even nobler cause---winning
Lori's heart. It was the summer of thunder for Wes and Ryan and they
(along with our the other members of the thunder club-- Ron, Morgan,
and Jeff) pulled out all the stops and made highspeed ziplines look
like child's play. One time they even managed to get our table through
our 12 ft. high dorm window so we could impress Lori and Amy with an
(unauthorized) rooftop dinner. After hours of trying to fit the table
through the small window, Wes managed to remove one of the table's
legs while balancing himself on a bedpost. I don't remember how we got
it back in our apartment.

That summer, I also got to listen in on Wes and Ryan's late-night
gospel discussions---something I wish every newly-returned missionary
could do. They taught me that the gospel was not just something we
shared as missionaries or talked about at church--it defined
everything about them. The same testimony that Wes used to share with
us over the campfire as kids and at EFY carried me through my first
year back at college and continues to strengthen me today. It was
actually at Wes and Ryan's joint mission homecoming that I determined
I would do whatever it took to be their roommate that summer. Since
the day I heard them speak, I've been looking forward to the time when
their names would be announced at general conference and I could tell
my grandkids that I was roommates with Wes Truman and Ryan
Fitzgibbons.

Summers will always bring memories of Wes and his "perfect brightness
of hope." I wish so much that I could there tomorrow. I've missed so
much being overseas--the birth of our twins, all of my siblings'
weddings----and now I can't even be there to say goodbye to Wes. I
want to live my life in manner that I can see him again..... and maybe
even get to spend some summers with him. It comforts me to picture Wes
in a future day, reunited with the love of his life Lori and their
beautiful children enjoying an eternal summer.

Travis Sevy