Author: rcragun
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Mark: water skiing
I mentioned in an earlier story that Mark was very athletic. I’ll write more about that as well. However, his athleticism wasn’t always highly coordinated. He could run like a gazelle, but that didn’t necessarily translate into amazing coordination. And, at times, he relied too heavily on his speed and strength rather than on finesse.…
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Mark: Easter on The Rock
My Grandfather, Earl Budge Cragun, had an orchard and owned a lot of property in Pleasant View, Utah. The orchard was passed down to a son-in-law and has since been demolished for development. But when the orchard was in the family and I was growing up, we had a yearly Easter egg hunt right next…
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Mark: my scarred finger
My Dad has long been an entrepreneur and small business owner. As such, he typically hired his kids to work for him. That included Mark and I. He also used our very large garage as his shop, on and off. Mark and I were helping my Dad in the garage one day when this happened.…
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Mark: punched in the face
Probably because we were so close in age and so competitive (Craguns are all competitive), Mark and I didn’t always get along. In fact, I’d dare say that the bulk of our childhood was spent in a rather high tension state with the slightest provocation leading to open conflict between the two of us. This…
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Mark: the knife incident
I was around 7 or 8 when this happened; Mark would have been close to 10. I don’t recall all of the circumstances surrounding this incident, but I do recall that it was summer (we were not in school) and I was feeling particularly depressed. I had the feeling that no one in our family…
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Mark: blowing on/up noses
I don’t know where this tradition started, but people were always afraid Mark was going to blow on their noses. From at least high school on, this was kind of Mark’s signature thing. I did it for a while, too, after Mark graduated, but it took Mark’s craziness to really pull it off and not…
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Mark: Isuzu jumping
Mark and I shared a truck while we were in high school. It was a little Isuzu pickup. Here’s a picture: Mark and John Carter were the ones who first started jumping the Isuzu as the jump site was close to John Carter’s house. Mark later showed me the location. If I remember correctly, it’s…
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Mark: kicking me out of the tent
This is a story I regularly tell people when I want to get a little sympathy for having a crazy upbringing. My Dad was long in charge of scouting when I was growing up. For some reason I always made the cut as to which of the kids got to go with my dad when…
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Mark: fire drills
Mark would occasionally let me drive the car home from school when we were both attending Morgan High together. And that usually meant we had a car full of people (typically no one in the trunk, but at least five or six of us in the car). One of the things we almost always did…
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Mark: visiting Park City
I don’t recall why we were going to Park City, but I know that’s where we went. It may have been for a game or just to meet up with some people Mark know, but what I do recall is that Mark borrowed my Dad’s Honda and then proceeded to fill it beyond full. I’m…