When Max left on his mission, I was 14 or 15, so it's not like we were very tight friends. And then he got back and moved away to college. But now we're both adults (in the technical sense of the word, at least) and living in the same place.
I first moved in about a week before semester started. At that time, Max was jobless, had no classes, and was on a break with Rachel. In other words, he had oodles of time on his hands. That was lucky for me, because he took me and all my stuff to Provo to move in. And then spent a lot of time taking me on runs, to lunch, the temple, to bakeries, and to buy groceries at case lot sales.
By the experience of being so thoroughly cared for, and by the experience of spending time in his car and apartment while he did normal Max-type tasks and errands not related to me, I discovered that for Max, having lots of time available translates to having even more time to focus outward and serve.
We were driving to Microcut one day last week and really enjoying the view of the mountains and sky. We even strayed into meta-enjoyment, which is a technical term that I made up for appreciating how much you're pleased by something. Max supplied this Kurt Vonnegut quote, which I think sums it up quite well: "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"
I appreciate my dad for teaching this to us by example through fun activities such as tromping in the mountains and riding on Legacy trail on sublime evenings. I am grateful that for a little while, I get to live so near to my oldest brother and best friend Max, who shows me how to practice this with good speakers, sunsets, spreadsheets, scriptures, and service.
