So tonight we were expecting a text from the school SBO advisor letting us know if he won or not. It was supposed to come around 10 pm. Ethan wanted to be asleep before it came so he wouldn't be tempted to know. But his roommate Joseph wanted to know, and Corey and I both wanted to know. So we had our phones close by and waited. 10 o'clock came and went. 10:15... 10:30... I asked Corey "Did you get a text yet?" "Nope, you?" It was 10:30 and Joseph came in to ask us, cause he wanted to go to bed. We still didn't know. Corey said he had the advisor's number and would text her. 10:45 and I was officially irritated. I texted Corey "Well what the freak is going on?!?!" And then he came in and showed me his phone:
Then he told me that he had already gone in to talk to Ethan. Corey had told him "Just so you know, this doesn't define you..." Corey had just read "You are Special" to the little girls and talked about that - dots or stars - just let them fall off and know that what anyone else thinks about you doesn't matter - only what God thinks. And your parents too. We'll always love you. Then Corey added "Do you want me to tell you?" Ethan said "You'd only want to tell me if I lost..." and then the tears started coming. He has wanted to win for SBO since 7th grade, wanted to follow in Joseph's footsteps, wanted to be an SBO sooo bad! And now his dream was over. So he was crying. Corey told me he was crying. I went in, rubbed his back for a bit "You okay?" He was putting some MoTab on his phone to listen to to try and comfort himself. He was texting friends as he wiped his nose. I said "Eth, tomorrow will be a good day, I promise." "What?" He looked at me and I was smiling. He was quiet, then asked "Did I win?" "Yeah!" I whispered. And like Alma of the Book of Mormon (Alma 36), Ethan's sorrow turned to joy that was as exceedingly great as was his pain. It was a good lesson though for him to feel how his opponent was most likely experiencing: "Remember that sadness is how the other guy is feeling..." And Corey added "What I said is still true - this doesn't define you. I'm happy for you that you won, but don't let it define you." Joseph was pretending to be asleep for a little bit but then turned his head over to show his excited face that was wide awake. We stayed up talking for an hour, Ethan couldn't fall asleep until 2 and I think he said he also woke up at 5 - he said it felt like Christmas, he was just so excited! He was ready in a jiffy and on cloud 9 as he left for school. We went to the assembly. Boy, did they draw out announcing the governor winner at the ending though! I'm glad he already knew, or he probably would have had a heart attack. He got a picture with his friends. the theme was "Clue" - those darn lost ballots get the SBOs every year!
