Fammer

In the fall, I went to visit friends in Arizona…actually, once I arrived in Arizona it was summer again. However, that’s hardly the point of this. The point is in fact that my friend and I were going into Target when we saw an elderly couple walking to their car.
My friend suddenly exclaimed, “I can’t wait to get old!” I laughed at her because it was such a Sarah-like outburst. She looked at my sideways and defended her statement, “I mean…I can wait, the stuff in the middle will be tons of fun! But it will be good to be old, you know?” I nodded because I did know. I knew exactly what she meant.
“Yeah, it won’t be like regular people getting old,” I said, assuring her I did in fact appreciate what it was she was saying. She nodded eagerly.
“You see couples sometimes,” she started with enthusiasm, “and it’s like they have just run out of things to say.”
“Totally,” was my only reply.
“But we, oh man. We have the Universal House of Justice! And they will keep giving us plans! And we will NEVER even be able to run out of things to talk about!”
“Yeah, and you know how old people seem to get lonely or feel useless? Well, we will always have people over, no matter what, for study circles, for devotions, for travel teachers to stay at our house!” I said, getting caught up in the conversation.
Meanwhile we were passing aisles and aisles of customers who I am sure had no idea what to make of these two teenage girls in their shirts that stated, “Join the Revolution” and “Stand Back! I’m changing the World!” who were also speaking so emphatically.
“Yeah, but we may not even have travel teachers anymore by then.” My friend pointed out.
I nodded and said, “Good call, good call…but people will still travel teach in a different way, don’t you think? To share their stories or artistic talents with other communities, jazz ‘em up and all that.”
“True story,” Sarah agreed.
We both grew silent as I picked out my toothpaste.
“You know what?” I asked her.
“What?” she asked, her head tilted in that oh-so-Sarah way.
“I want to be a travel teacher when I get old, with my husband.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I want to get an RV, (they will be solar powered by then so I wouldn’t feel bad about wasting gas cuz I wouldn’t be wasting any) and we’d just travel teach. ‘Honey, I made you a tuna sandwich, it’s in the cooler when you get hungry but don’t have it until we are at least through Iowa because you know otherwise…’” And we both laughed at the fake conversation with my future husband which somehow involved a Minnesotan accent.
We were silent again.
“Why’d you pick tuna?” she asked me.
“I dunno…because I don’t like it…so I assume my husband will…you know, opposites attract and all that.”
“Oh, yeah, duh.”
And that was it, that was our conversation in that strange season of fall/summer. Hmm…maybe we should call it fammer…