A REAL FRIEND LASTS FOREVER-REGARDLESS OF THE TIME IT TAKES

Growing up in a small rural Utah town such as Nephi has many rewards of which one is pure, unconditional friendship. My Class of 1965 had about 100 Seniors graduate and most of us had been together throughout those 12 years. We were like a family. Sometimes, we thought that one or two of our family members were "odd" including myself, but as a family, we stuck together through thick and thin. And the teachers were the same, although some of us gave them severe headaches, but we were proud of them, and eventually they learned to be proud of us. Such was the case of Mike Royce; Carl Parkin, Hal Jones, Scott Sparks and Leon Pexton. It didn't matter what their Daddies did for a living or if they wore old shoes to school, they were real friends throughout life and will be beyond earth. Like all humans, eventually we grow as old as our parents, and the wrinkles of wisdom appear and we start losing them to the other side of the Veil. Such was the case with Scott Sparks, who was transferred to the golden gates of Heaven a little over a year ago. His neighbor and friend Hal would be a frequent visitor to Scott when MS hit him hard. And if you ever knew Scott when he was a tall tough State Trooper, you treated him with respect and he would treat you the same. It was Scott that started the get together which they had been doing for the past quarter century, often meeting in a local diner, and it was there that Viet Nam Medic Hal Jones could see something awry with Chopper(Carl Parkin) who had been an Army soldier, so Hal did what he does best, and pulled his shirt open and gave him an EKG, which may have saved his life. The childhood buddies from Juab County would get together on a routine basis, and have lunch with their wives. After we lost Scott, his wife wanted to go up American Fork Canyon where we had taken Scott fishing from his wheelchair. It was arranged and we tried to piece together a photo with all of them including Mike and Carolyn Royce; LaRue and Leon Pexton; Carl and Maria Parkin; Bonnie and Hal Jones and Deeann Sparks. In the other photo it is just the boys, and Angel Scott Sparks is trying to figure out how to put a temporary Halo around his buddies that are standing in the middle of the stream. And yes we did catch a fish and nearby Highway Patrol Dispatchers took the Vienna Sausages over the dam Fish we caught!