Love, fire and speeding

Just as this first month of 2009 is ending and the month of love is beginning, I thought it was time to write about our first spring of love between Don and me. Wow! Has it really been 31 years and a little bit more since he asked me to marry him?


All weekend I had known he wanted to ask me but was lacking the courage to actually do so. I had taken him all over Waco to all the romantic spots I could think of--Lake Waco, a couple of city parks, but...nothing happened. Finally Saturday night at my parents' house we were alone, trying to erect their Christmas tree--a little thing bought from my mother's high school students but which did not fit in the tree stand. We were fighting that tree alone but it kept falling over--too skinny and too puny while my parents slept peacefully. Suddenly we smelled something odd and ran into the other room where the Yule Log had rolled out of the fireplace and lit about a dozen little fires in the yellow shag carpet. Don tried to put them out while I ran down to wake my parents. Daddy couldn't see without his glasses but he ran into the den and could see the sparks and hopped around, trying to put them out in his bare feet! In short order, only a dozen or so brown places remained in the rug, but no other damage. After that, of course, we were wide awake! Finally, my parents went back to bed just as my best friend called and came over, the first reunion since college graduation the year before. We all talked for hours before she left in the early hours of the morning when I started telling Don all the reasons I could not get married. Naturally, he was thoroughly discouraged about any wedding plans. Don and I went to bed--separately, of course!

The next day, after church, he and I were driving home on I-35W somewhere outside of Itasca, TX going 70 mph and holding hands. Suddenly his hand got all sweaty and we started going faster and faster as he shot out at about 75 mph, "Wouldyou marryme!?" Incredulous, I said, "What?" like I didn't really know what he had said. We never stopped or slowed down. He repeated it, slower, never taking his eyes off the road, like the good driver he is, "Would you marry me? I love you." And, I said "Yeeesss!" slowly and with a definite happy lilt in my voice. That has been decades ago when multitasking was not even a word.


The Virginia legislature is discussing enacting a law to make it illegal to talk on cell phones while driving. This story from three decades ago proves that there have always been lots of distractions on the highway!

The Passing of a Friend

Today Nancy died and I lost a friend who called me her soul sister. A person she had been seeking for years to have—one who thought like her--so she said. And, now, Nancy has gone on to heaven at a very young age. How happy her life must be now that the pain is gone, the fight is over, and she is dancing with joy in the presence of her Lord, Savior and Best Friend! We will miss her and those hopeful talks about the movie and what direction we might go. It was a dream and fun and a magical time of adults believing like children on the great ocean of possibilities that we could take that plunge and not drown and swim, skimming over the water with dolphins.

And, what can I say? It started off like any other winter day with lists are made and plans set and chores started. And, then, suddenly, it was like no other day. A friend, too young, passed from this life to the next—the long and eternal one that really matters. Why do these days here and now seem so important and so permanent even though they really amount to nothing—dust in the hands, blown away in the wind.

Good-bye, dear friend. Save me a place at the banquet table!

Happy New Year!

Wow! It is 2009 already! The weather is startlingly cold but the sun is beautifully shining and teasing us from the inside that it is warm outside! But, no, it is a tease and it is cold indeed!

I was thinking about just how to start off this new year. It is like a blank page, an unused whiteboard, a not-yet-lived-in house that is waiting for the first ring of laughter or tear of sadness or secret shared between friends. So, how to start the year.

First, I am so thankful for a new year. I look forward to seeing just what this year holds for me, for my family, for my country, for my world. Like the old hymn says, I do not know what the future holds, but I know (and trust) the One who holds the future! So, I pray I will live each day, trusting God more and more--in everything!

Second, I am excited about this new year. Some years are full of trouble from the start and some are full of trouble when you look back, but this year, I am thrilled about the possibilities. This new adventure of writing people's stories is so much plain ol' fun and combines my love of people, fascination with their stories, and love of writing, just getting words down on paper and making sense of our world. We shall see where it leads. God is good, all the time and I am trusting Him in this adventure.

And, finally, I am so thankful for my family--they are truly a gift from God. What am amazing Father to give us people with whom to connect in a daily way, investing time and energy and basking in their love! Indeed, the family is a picture of God's love expresses in the lives of people--forgiveness and restoration, again and again.

Well, those are some thoughts for the new year. Welcome, 2009. You hold much promise!