Read an exclusive extract from Make Life Beautiful by Syd and Shea McGee

27 October 2020

Mixing Styles

'A room speaks to the heart when you create pairings with juxtaposition and balance.'

Make Life Beautiful

Shea

Finals had ended, and it was officially summer. I was heading into my junior year at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, far away from my childhood home in Texas. Provo is a small college town about an hour south of Salt Lake City and a twenty-minute drive from Sundance ski resort. The university is nestled at the base of the Rocky Mountains, and a large Y made of white stones overlooks the campus. The town is centered around Jesus, football, and gettin’ married.

My parents had met there twenty years prior, and I spent my childhood wearing cougar blue sweatshirts, excited to follow in their footsteps. My younger brother, Austin, was also attending the university and had plans to move out of the dorms and into his own apartment. My large, creaky SUV, lovingly nicknamed the Ford Exploder, was needed to help him haul his stuff. It was white with a turquoise-green pinstripe on the side and groaned the second I tapped on the brakes. The AC was touch and go, but it had a seven-disc player, and I kept a case filled with CDs on my visor.

Austin had called me a few hours earlier to ask for a hand. On the phone he said, “My buddy Syd will be there and you’re going to like him, but don’t, because he’s my friend.” As I pulled into the lot, I knew I was in trouble. There Syd was, on a skateboard, wearing the skinniest skinny jeans I had ever seen. We went on our first date the next night.

Syd

I joined an intramural soccer team in college because I loved the game, but I’d never really played. That’s where I met my future brother-in-law, Austin. He needed help moving into a new apartment and bribed me with some vending machine snacks. Not that I needed a bribe to help a friend, but it did sweeten the deal. I had no idea the perks wouldn’t stop there. Enter how I met the Shea Miller.

I started skating as I waited for Austin’s sister to show up with the car. I heard the thing before I could see it, and when Shea pulled into the lot, I turned to Austin and said, “Dang, dude. Your sister is pretty cute.” He rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything.

We started loading the car, and I noticed a Cat Power CD on her visor. I told her she had good taste in music for a Texan (classic flirt move: an underhanded compliment). She laughed, and we couldn’t stop talking the rest of the move. I used my skateboard as a dolly, wheeling boxes from the trunk to Austin’s new apartment. It was new to him, but Austin’s bachelor pad had seen better days.

After we finished unloading, Shea and I sat on Austin’s saggy plaid couch and chatted in the living room while he stuffed concert tees into dresser drawers. We talked about what we missed about home. Shea was from Texas and I’m from California, and we both missed the Mexican food. We discovered we were both studying communications; Shea was in the public relations program, and I was studying marketing at a nearby university.

Our conversation was interrupted when their mom came over to help Austin unpack, and we made introductions. As I was leaving, I shamelessly asked for Shea’s number in front of her mom and brother. Shea’s mom raised her eyebrow and attempted to conceal her laughter as she waited to see how Shea would react. I think Shea might have been too embarrassed to say no in front of a crowd, but hey, I took what I could get.

Shea

I was both excited and mortified. Syd never follows the rules, and I follow all of them. We’re natural opposites, but our juxtaposition provides balance and makes life together more enjoyable.

Syd

The next night I took Shea to dinner, and we have either been together or spoken on the phone every day since.