Friendlove part 3: Ty Rone Farnsworth

Right around four years ago, I met a boy who had less in common with me than probably anyone else I'd ever met. The circumstances of our first meeting were vague and un-extraordinary, and quite frankly, I don't even really remember them. He was good friends with my FHE brothers in my first BYU ward, so he just kind of appeared in my life one day.

On paper, Ty and I are pretty much complete opposites. Ty is from Arizona; I'm from North Carolina. Ty's humor is very witty and sarcastic; mine is more corny and punny. Ty is smooth; my charm is in my goofiness. Ty is lean and athletically inclined; I am a little chubbier and have to try and be aggressive in sports since I have no real skill. Ty is tall, dark, and handsome; I am shorter, fair-skinned, and . . . well, we've always had the good-looking thing in common I guess. Still, on so many levels we are so different from each other that it kind of blows my mind that we've become such good friends. Somehow, out of all the people I met during college, he is the one who stuck around and stayed close for the entire 4 years. Now, a lot of that may have to do with the fact that many of our friends have gotten married, but I think it's bigger than that. We just learned that we have a lot more in common than we originally thought. I think the thing we have in common that has made us such tight friends is that we appreciate true friendship. We've both had our share of some great and not-so-great friendships, and the not-so-great ones really make you appreciate the loyal, uplifting, and inspiring friends in your life.

I love Ty's advice; he sees things fairly objectively (especially compared to my sometimes overly-emotional view of situations). The best thing, though, is that he has a gift for knowing when to give advice and when to just listen. He knows how to tell me things I don't want to hear in a way that I can deal with them. He sees a lot more potential in me than I see in myself sometimes (especially in the dating category). He's a great example to me of honesty, loyalty, and faith in God.

For the past few years, he and I have had this running joke about how he doesn't have a heart, but the truth is, Ty has one of the kindest, most loving hearts of anyone I know. He's loyal to his friends and would sacrifice anything for those he loves.

(Mushytime is over now.) As great as Ty is, I mostly decided to write this post because today is his birthday! Woot! So happy birthday, Ty. Thanks for always being a great friend. Love you!