Bryce Kim Christensen Tribute

As some of you may know, one of my closest friends was killed in a car accident on Wednesday morning. As I drove by the accident on my way to work that morning, I didn’t make the connection that it was Bryce Christensen. You see, Bryce told me only days before that he had bought a new car and I had yet to see it. His father, Kim Christensen (also driving to work), came upon the accident, noticed the car looked a lot like Bryce’s, and called Bryce’s phone but received no answer. He stopped just in time to help them pull Bryce from the vehicle and ride with him to Mountain View Hospital. I received the news of that accident the following morning shortly before I had planned to call Bryce to invite him to attend our marriage ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple.

Rather than go into detail on some of the accomplishments of Bryce’s great-lived life (No amount of writing could ever do him justice), I would like to just include a scripture and some quotes that were shared by Bishop Cope at Bryce’s funeral service earlier this morning.

Bryce’s missionary scripture that he requested be on his plaque: “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” –Alma 34:32

“Before embarking on any journey, we like to have some assurance of a round-trip ticket. Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through—and not around—the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live. As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” –Russell M. Nelson

“Death is only the blowing out of a candle because the dawn has arrived.”

Before visiting with Bryce’s family, I tried to find anything I had that would provide for them another memory of Bryce. I was only able to scrounge up a few minutes of skateboarding footage we had taken a few years earlier. Bryce wanted to make a skate video together at that time and wanted to call it B.R.B. You see, Bryce thought he was so clever because it was a play on words. It would stand for Bryce, Richard, Brian, and also for Be Right Back (meaning we will be right back with another video). I now think of Be Right Back as a reminder that Bryce will only be gone for a short time.

The song in this video is Bryce’s favorite, one that the two of us have had as ringtones for the past few months. Only after hearing the words from his mother did I realize the significance of them.

Modest Mouse – The World At Large

Ice-age heat wave, can't complain.
If the world's at large, why should I remain?
Walked away to another plan.
Gonna find another place, maybe one I can stand.
I move on to another day,
to a whole new town with a whole new way.
Went to the porch to have a thought.
Got to the door and again, I couldn't stop.
You don't know where and you don't know when.
But you still got your words and you got your friends.
Walk along to another day.
Work a little harder, work another way.

One of my last memories of Bryce was talking with him about moving out and attending BYU. He informed me that he would be staying home until his parents were ready for him to leave (Bryce’s younger brother Dallin was to leave for a mission to Sapporo, Japan a few days later and Bryce thought it would be too hard for his parents if both left at the same time). Bryce never did take my advice about moving out (thankfully) but I found through my visit with his family that he did take the advice about talking to his dad and applying to BYU. He was accepted to winter semester on Tuesday morning (the day after winter classes had started).

In the Beginning...

Brian and I first saw each other at a ward activity in January. He had recently gotten out of a relationship, and I followed suite close behind. The next time we saw each other was at a Stake ice-skating activity. We noticed each other at both of these activities respectively, but the opportunity to get to know each other better didn't come until a month or so later. When one of my roommates and I decided we wanted to start hosting a game night at our apartment on Sunday nights, I turned it into an opportunity to invite Brian over. For a few weeks after that, we continued spending time at game night, "somehow" always sitting together, being on the same teams, and talking together after the other people had left.

After what I felt like was a long time, Brian finally asked me out. The only problem was I already had plans for both weekend nights. We finally decided on a Friday lunch and spent some time earlier in the week together. Our first date was on March 21 and consisted of stopping at Clint's Place to get sandwiches (so good!) and then grabbing some kites before heading to the park and then up the canyon to fly them and enjoy the afternoon together. We were disappointed to feel the wind die down and to find that our kites wouldn't fly, but the conversation lasted and so did our interest after the date.

My mistake here was dating someone else and giving Brian the cold shoulder. Somehow a couple months later (when I was completely single and steering clear of boys), Brian invited me to go camping with a group of people from our BYU ward. I gladly accepted and ended up riding up with Brian and talking the whole way up with him and on until the early hours of the morning. The next morning we went on a five hour hike together (with Brian on crutches- this is an extension of the story that I will not go into here) and spent most of the day together. By the end of the night, I had a hard time keeping Brian from my mind but wondered whether he would ever give me another chance at his heart.

The next night, after our weekly game night of course, Brian and I ended up watching a movie with a group of people from our ward on the roof of his complex. Finally, by the end of the movie, Brian picked up on my hints and took my hand. I teased him about taking so long and I guess he took that as a hint too because he kissed me later that night as well. Since that night, June 1^st, we've spent more time together than doing anything else. I'll admit we've had rocky times, but they've taught us to learn and grow together.

Brian and I talked in June and July about getting married later that fall or winter, but I got scared and pulled back, knowing that if I wanted things to work, we needed to take more time. As time went on, we talked more about an April wedding, and Brian waited patiently for me to receive my personal answer. One Monday night when we were working on a project for one of my classes, I found myself in Brian's kitchen, reading an email he has written me the night before about his feelings for me and about marriage. Brian was out in his garage; working hard to cut out the shapes we had hand-drawn on wood for our family advent calendar. Somewhere in the email, I was overwhelmed with love for him, and knew that I wanted to be at his side for eternity. I hurried out the garage, with tears in my eyes and told Brian that I had received my answer.

Shortly thereafter I gave Brian my dad's business card and wished him luck. Through most of Christmas break I was wondering when he was going to ask my dad, and when he would pick up my ring (I work at Wilson Diamonds and know way too much about rings and how fast we can get them done). On Monday, December 29^th we planned to go out to dinner and I hoped Brian would finally ask me to be his wife. I worked that day and knew Brian hadn't had time to pick up the ring that day before we went to dinner. Knowing he could propose that night, I grew anxious to get engaged but I started getting frustrated, thinking he hadn't gotten the ring, and I was sure he wouldn't propose that night.

Brian took me to dinner at my favorite restaurant, PF Changs, and we had a delicious dinner and talked about getting engaged. At one point, I even told him that if he asked me then, I'd say yes, but the longer he waited, the worse his chances got! He promised not to wait any longer than he had to, and I took that as we couldn't possibly get engaged that night or he would have done it already. On the drive back to his house to play games with his family, I swallowed any hopes of Brian going down on a knee that night and tried to be okay with the prospects of dating for another few days.

After arriving home, we went upstairs, Brian to the bathroom and me to the room I had been staying in at his house. When he was done, he came to get me for games and I sluggishly agreed, receiving a piggy-back ride down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, instead of turning down the hall, we went out the front door and Brian let me down to lead me by the hand to the front of the house and into the garage. I did think much of this at the time, except that he wanted to make sure I was okay with not being engaged that night, and whatnot. As he pulled me into his arms, he reminded me of the time he'd spent in the garage working on a magnet board for my birthday, building the frame and the months he spent carving me a Welsh love spoon (a later post will be made to attempt to do this justice) for Christmas. Each thing carved in the spoon was carefully thought out and symbolized something in our relationship. Then he reminded me of the day when I came out to the garage to tell him I had my answer and that I wanted to marry him. I cried a little and thought that he was just being sweet, trying to make me feel better about not getting engaged that night. Right then, he said, "I promised I wouldn't wait any longer than I had to," and went down on his knee in the garage.

I had never been happier in all of my life, and it's gotten even better with every moment since. I get all excited when it hits me that I get to be with him forever, and I'll never lose him. I finally really know what love is and I'm never going back. J Thank you to all of you who have played a part in either of our lives and for helping us become who we are today. Also, thanks to all those who actually took the time to read this post, I'm sorry it's so long, but the details in this are so important to us that we didn't want to cut them out. Let us know how you like our new blog, Brian created it on his own, and I must admit, I'm proud! We love you all!