I love remembering your funny obsession with that cool whip bowl hat, the brown cowboy pants Mom could never get off you to wash, your He-Man sword, and your Superman cape. Someday I hope to find something just as eccentric to give me some of that Paul strength and invincibility.
And let me remind you that this was back in the olden days when Cool Whip bowls had handles, so you had a built in chin-strap. Super studly then, just as you are now,
My memory is that the cool whip bowl, Paul’s favorite, was just a “plain hat”. The yellow peanut butter plastic bucket with the handle had a chin strap. Either way, he was obsessed with wearing them as part of his “outfit!!”
When you were a little boy, you were so energetic and hated to take naps. You begged me to make you my special “magic potion” of Tang with coconut flakes. That disgusting concoction would make you close your eyes and fall right to sleep…every time!
When I was 11, and you were 15, you used to pump me on your bike to KFC in Orem every week for their all you can eat buffet. I was under 12, so I paid only $3 or so. I don’t think they believed me since I was so tall. I was growing so fast, I could eat as much as you. I started junior high at Canyon View that year, and even though you had left for Orem High, you still had a fan club of girls. I remember being approached and asked if I was “going out” with Paul Phipps, because they saw us at KFC! “He’s my BROTHER!” I said. That would have been some hot date to KFC!
You MADE me get with the program and get a facebook account. I said no, no, no thank you but you ignored me and created my profile anyway. Whatever. It was easier to let you do what you wanted rather than to argue with you. You are the most stubborn person I know. I wasn’t going to use it anyway, so what did I care?
Well thank you for not letting me get my way. This time – maybe just this one time only – you knew what I needed more than I did. I have had so much fun reconnecting and socializing and especially getting to see the cute pics of your darling children, even when they were so far away.
Paul was such an intense newborn. He knew how to suck his thumb already, and “wasn’t afraid to use it.” In the hospital just after birth, he would scream and cry unless he got to snuggle with me. The nurses just let him sleep in the crook of my arm all night; otherwise he was so mad/sad that he wouldn’t rest. As long as he was right with me then he was calm and content. How fun it was for me to have such a sweet little buddy right off the bat!
In SC I decided to get my hair “frosted.” (highlighted) Paul, a 6th grader, had never seen me with blonde streaks in my hair. When he saw me he wasn’t very pleased but decided to gather information.
Paul: “So mom…did you pay to have your hair done?”
Me: “Yes.”
Paul: “How much did you have to pay?”
Me: (Embarrassed) “$60
Paul: “Mom, why would ANYONE pay $60 just to see what they are going to look like when they get OLD?!?!”
I have two memories of Paul that stand out the most, but by favorite that i keep thinking about is when i was a junior in High school. off “the grid” when it came to popularity. i was going to the morp dance and needed a date for a friend of mine. i took a long shot that my cousin Paul would be free, He accepted the blind date no questions asked. didnt ask if she was cute, nice or even normal, was just like “sure! when?” then, at the party, all the girls were drooling over this eye candy of a boy that i was related to. haha he catapulted me into stardom that night. i cracked open my year book the other day and read a note from a girl i dont remember, and it said. “hey Brooke, it was fun getting to know you this year, and hey, set me up with your cute cousin anytime.”
Paul, i didnt even ask if you had a good time that night. but i wanted to say a way over due thanks for putting me on the grid. i owe you one.
I remember when Paul illustrated that book about Super-Moms. We had a big get-together at that park with the great big pavillion. I remember that I was so proud of him, and so impressed at how talented he was, and how much humility he seemed to have. (I also remember aunt Merredyth’s awesome super-mom suit!
I remember when Paul had just gotten off his mission and we made an epic trip to Brazil. Due to weather complications, our connecting flight was cancelled and we were stuck in Chicago for a day or so. Eeek, I am the big sister, I should figure something out! What should we do?!
Well my super wheeler dealer of a brother came to my rescue. Paul said “Hey, my friend Ken Logsdon doesn’t live here….but his girlfriend’s parents do! Let’s call them!” Paul’s little childhood friend’s girlfriend’s parents picked us up, took the best care of us, took us out sightseeing and out for Chicago Dogs, and made us the nicest, warmest beds you could make out of basement couches.
I was an idiot and had worn my contacts with no backup contingency plans. I arrived in Brazil with a massive pink eye infection. Good thing my uncle Paul is a doctor and took care of me right away. Speaking of Pauls….that is such an awesome name. My Mom has a brother Paul, my Dad has a brother Paul, and I have a brother Paul. Pretty cool, huh?
I remember the one and only time I ever fought with my little brother, Paul. This will come as a shock to friends and family but it was over Nintendo. I had been playing a Nintendo game that we couldn’t figure out how to save. The only solution was to leave the game on day and night for four days by pausing.
Paul thought it would be funny to taunt me a second time by threatening to hit the Reset button which would start the game over from the very beginning. I didn’t think he would and he did. Accidentally. He kept saying, “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” and I hit him as hard as I could in the face before I could take another breath. And then I was sorry and Paul kept saying, “Sorry!”
Paul, if you could hit the Reset button one more time and I had one more day with you, I would tell you how sorry I am. I would hold you and never let you go.
I remember whenever I saw Paul he always had giant hugs for everyone, from the time I was little until the last time I saw him. And they were always the best kind of hugs, all encompassing, loving hugs that didn’t let go until he was ready.
When we were little we used to love to read comics together, at one point we were obsessed with the Spider Man comics series ‘Venom’ and I remember he wrote me the first letter I ever got from him with his own rendition. It was just a few lines about the comic but I remember his illustrations on the margins and the bottoms of all his letters.
One of my favorite Paul stories stemmed from our love of Spider Man. When Universal Studios opened up and I rode the ‘Spider Man’ ride for the first time I wrote Paul the longest letter I ever wrote him on his mission describing it in detail, I couldn’t wait for him to come home so we all could go. When he did come home, he wasn’t home long before we all did meet up in Orlando for a family trip to Universal. We decided to save some money on tickets and go to one of those time share condo / get $15 off your ticket places where they try to sell you a condo for an hour. Well the fourteen of us were never going to buy a condo but by the end of the tour I’m pretty sure Paul had our tour guide converted to the church. I’ve never seen anyone with as much charisma, someone who could light up a room just by walking into it.
Hey Polywog! A month ago today I heard the news that forever changed my life. I miss you but you know that. Michelle wrote an incredible tribute to you on her blog “I Can Do Hard Things”.
The last place on earth Mom saw you was at Golden Corral. We met together with Tanya for the first time again after your funeral to remember you and share dinner.
I will dedicate your grave this coming Tuesday and I don’t know what to say. I pray that I will feel the Spirit strongly and that the words that I should say will be given to me. I love you Paul.
I love remembering your funny obsession with that cool whip bowl hat, the brown cowboy pants Mom could never get off you to wash, your He-Man sword, and your Superman cape. Someday I hope to find something just as eccentric to give me some of that Paul strength and invincibility.
And let me remind you that this was back in the olden days when Cool Whip bowls had handles, so you had a built in chin-strap. Super studly then, just as you are now,
My memory is that the cool whip bowl, Paul’s favorite, was just a “plain hat”. The yellow peanut butter plastic bucket with the handle had a chin strap. Either way, he was obsessed with wearing them as part of his “outfit!!”
When you were a little boy, you were so energetic and hated to take naps. You begged me to make you my special “magic potion” of Tang with coconut flakes. That disgusting concoction would make you close your eyes and fall right to sleep…every time!
When I was 11, and you were 15, you used to pump me on your bike to KFC in Orem every week for their all you can eat buffet. I was under 12, so I paid only $3 or so. I don’t think they believed me since I was so tall. I was growing so fast, I could eat as much as you. I started junior high at Canyon View that year, and even though you had left for Orem High, you still had a fan club of girls. I remember being approached and asked if I was “going out” with Paul Phipps, because they saw us at KFC! “He’s my BROTHER!” I said. That would have been some hot date to KFC!
You MADE me get with the program and get a facebook account. I said no, no, no thank you but you ignored me and created my profile anyway. Whatever. It was easier to let you do what you wanted rather than to argue with you. You are the most stubborn person I know. I wasn’t going to use it anyway, so what did I care?
Well thank you for not letting me get my way. This time – maybe just this one time only – you knew what I needed more than I did. I have had so much fun reconnecting and socializing and especially getting to see the cute pics of your darling children, even when they were so far away.
Maybe little brothers do know best.
Love you, sweet Paulie.
Paul was such an intense newborn. He knew how to suck his thumb already, and “wasn’t afraid to use it.” In the hospital just after birth, he would scream and cry unless he got to snuggle with me. The nurses just let him sleep in the crook of my arm all night; otherwise he was so mad/sad that he wouldn’t rest. As long as he was right with me then he was calm and content. How fun it was for me to have such a sweet little buddy right off the bat!
In SC I decided to get my hair “frosted.” (highlighted) Paul, a 6th grader, had never seen me with blonde streaks in my hair. When he saw me he wasn’t very pleased but decided to gather information.
Paul: “So mom…did you pay to have your hair done?”
Me: “Yes.”
Paul: “How much did you have to pay?”
Me: (Embarrassed) “$60
Paul: “Mom, why would ANYONE pay $60 just to see what they are going to look like when they get OLD?!?!”
I adore Paul’s bluntness! Mom, you should tell the story of what Paul said to you when you decided to start dating again in your 40′s. Love that one
I have two memories of Paul that stand out the most, but by favorite that i keep thinking about is when i was a junior in High school. off “the grid” when it came to popularity. i was going to the morp dance and needed a date for a friend of mine. i took a long shot that my cousin Paul would be free, He accepted the blind date no questions asked. didnt ask if she was cute, nice or even normal, was just like “sure! when?” then, at the party, all the girls were drooling over this eye candy of a boy that i was related to. haha he catapulted me into stardom that night. i cracked open my year book the other day and read a note from a girl i dont remember, and it said. “hey Brooke, it was fun getting to know you this year, and hey, set me up with your cute cousin anytime.”
Paul, i didnt even ask if you had a good time that night. but i wanted to say a way over due thanks for putting me on the grid. i owe you one.
I remember when Paul illustrated that book about Super-Moms. We had a big get-together at that park with the great big pavillion. I remember that I was so proud of him, and so impressed at how talented he was, and how much humility he seemed to have. (I also remember aunt Merredyth’s awesome super-mom suit!
Wasn’t that book called “You know you’re a Mormon mom if….?” or something like that? I remember we had a copy of it that he and Aunt Merradyth signed.
I remember when Paul had just gotten off his mission and we made an epic trip to Brazil. Due to weather complications, our connecting flight was cancelled and we were stuck in Chicago for a day or so. Eeek, I am the big sister, I should figure something out! What should we do?!
Well my super wheeler dealer of a brother came to my rescue. Paul said “Hey, my friend Ken Logsdon doesn’t live here….but his girlfriend’s parents do! Let’s call them!” Paul’s little childhood friend’s girlfriend’s parents picked us up, took the best care of us, took us out sightseeing and out for Chicago Dogs, and made us the nicest, warmest beds you could make out of basement couches.
I was an idiot and had worn my contacts with no backup contingency plans. I arrived in Brazil with a massive pink eye infection. Good thing my uncle Paul is a doctor and took care of me right away. Speaking of Pauls….that is such an awesome name. My Mom has a brother Paul, my Dad has a brother Paul, and I have a brother Paul. Pretty cool, huh?
I remember the one and only time I ever fought with my little brother, Paul. This will come as a shock to friends and family but it was over Nintendo. I had been playing a Nintendo game that we couldn’t figure out how to save. The only solution was to leave the game on day and night for four days by pausing.
Paul thought it would be funny to taunt me a second time by threatening to hit the Reset button which would start the game over from the very beginning. I didn’t think he would and he did. Accidentally. He kept saying, “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” and I hit him as hard as I could in the face before I could take another breath. And then I was sorry and Paul kept saying, “Sorry!”
Paul, if you could hit the Reset button one more time and I had one more day with you, I would tell you how sorry I am. I would hold you and never let you go.
I remember whenever I saw Paul he always had giant hugs for everyone, from the time I was little until the last time I saw him. And they were always the best kind of hugs, all encompassing, loving hugs that didn’t let go until he was ready.
When we were little we used to love to read comics together, at one point we were obsessed with the Spider Man comics series ‘Venom’ and I remember he wrote me the first letter I ever got from him with his own rendition. It was just a few lines about the comic but I remember his illustrations on the margins and the bottoms of all his letters.
One of my favorite Paul stories stemmed from our love of Spider Man. When Universal Studios opened up and I rode the ‘Spider Man’ ride for the first time I wrote Paul the longest letter I ever wrote him on his mission describing it in detail, I couldn’t wait for him to come home so we all could go. When he did come home, he wasn’t home long before we all did meet up in Orlando for a family trip to Universal. We decided to save some money on tickets and go to one of those time share condo / get $15 off your ticket places where they try to sell you a condo for an hour. Well the fourteen of us were never going to buy a condo but by the end of the tour I’m pretty sure Paul had our tour guide converted to the church. I’ve never seen anyone with as much charisma, someone who could light up a room just by walking into it.
I’ll miss you so much Paul, I love you.
Hey Polywog! A month ago today I heard the news that forever changed my life. I miss you but you know that. Michelle wrote an incredible tribute to you on her blog “I Can Do Hard Things”.
The last place on earth Mom saw you was at Golden Corral. We met together with Tanya for the first time again after your funeral to remember you and share dinner.
I will dedicate your grave this coming Tuesday and I don’t know what to say. I pray that I will feel the Spirit strongly and that the words that I should say will be given to me. I love you Paul.