In The Beginning/Happy Fathers Day

On June 3rd, 1977 I went to church as usual and while we were singing, I heard the most beautiful tenor voice in the back of our building. I knew this had to be a visitor because we didn't have a member that sang so wonderfully.

Sure enough, after church I glanced towards the back of the room and there was this very cute, curly headed, college age man. Nice. I poked my dad on the shoulder and asked him if he would go meet the new guy.

I rushed home to help mom with the final preparations for our lunch and when dad came in I asked about the new, cute boy at church. Dad informed me that he was visiting from Texas because his car broke down.

Texas, huh? Well, THAT was a long way from Illinois where I was living.

About that time, the phone rang and it was Nina, our ministers' wife and my current best friend. She was wondering if I would like to come over and sing because the VISITOR from church this morning was staying at their house.

I quickly checked the mirror, donned a clean, blue, baby doll blouse and headed over to Nina's house--three houses away.

There he was. His name was Kevin. That day we started talking and we kept talking and we kept talking. We started singing and we kept singing and we kept singing...and then talking some more.

The third day after we met, Kevin turned to me and looked deeply into my eyes. I KNEW he was going to ask me to marry him (odd as that sounds now). His eyes bore deeply into mine and then? A panicked look took over his face and he started singing another hymn in the song book that we shared. Sigh. Maybe I was wrong.

Kevin told me much later that he was indeed all set to propose but had a panic attack and chickened out :)

We spent two weeks together, me working during the day and spending time with Kevin during the evenings. We really didn't 'go out' or date...we just talked and sang and asked each other questions.

Kevin's car got fixed and with a box of freshly baked brownies from me on the front seat of his Volkswagon, off he went back to Texas.

Kevin called every night and we talked some more. Then, he invited me to come to Texas to meet his family.

I had a weeks vacation offered to me by my boss, Dr.Akers (which was a bit strange because I had only been working at NIU Health Clinic for three months).

So, I went to Texas. My one week vacation was extended to three weeks because I had appendicitis and had to have surgery.

Kevin and I talked about getting married in the spring. When I returned to Illinois, I went and put a wedding dress on lay away and began planning a spring wedding. Kevin called. He was cold, cold, cold on the phone. No more talks of weddings...but there was talk of putting things "on hold".

I was hurt. I was mad. I told him to forget it all and hung up the phone. I informed my mother that if Kevin called again, I would leave and she could tell him that I was not home.

I sat down and wrote Kevin (what we now laughingly call my 'hate letter') a hate letter. I was not nice and basically told him that if he thought I was going to be his puppet on a string to be pulled here or there, he could rethink the whole situation.

About a week later I got a phone call around ten at night. It was Kevin. The first words out of his mouth were, "Don't hang up".....I think he had 'got the message' through my hate letter.

That was exactly what did happen. Kevin had a loving letter from me in one hand and 'the hate letter' in the other and went to his parents and showed them both and asked what they thought.

Kevin wanted to call me right then and ask me to marry him...as soon as I wanted to. His parents gave their blessing.

A week and a half later....we were married. It was September 3, 1977 in DeKalb, IL at the Church of Christ where I had grown up and been in church since I was five years old.

That was over thirty years ago and Kevin is now my precious husband and father of our five children. Happy Fathers Day, Kevin. May it be a blessed one for you.

Love,
Your JOY