“I’m scared, so afraid to show I care. Will he think me weak, if I tremble when I speak?”
"Probably,” Laura muttered in response to the pleading song she set her alarm to the night before. It was the beginning of yet another day in the young 17 year-old’s life. School had begun only a few weeks ago and already, she wished it were summer vacation. Slowly she opened her blue eyes to the still dark room and moaned as she checked to see the time: 5:45. It had been one of her routines in the morning to lie in bed, listening to the song that had awakened her, then by the time the next song would begin, she’d get up and start getting ready for school.
“Laura, I need a ride to school today.” Laura glared at her younger, yet taller sister.
“Why can’t you ride the bus?” Karen gave a pout.
“I don’t like riding the bus anymore…they never play Nsync.”
Laura had to smile at that comment. For years she had to ride on the bus full of overly obnoxious adolescents who never left a sentence without a swear attached, making her little, green Chevy truck the best Christmas/birthday present she had ever gotten. Never again, she vowed, would she ride in a school bus willingly. “All right, all right…but be ready in half an hour.”
As the Chevy pulled into the Port Washington High School, Laura couldn’t help but notice all the cute couples walking together, hand in hand, coming out of cars, and making out on the cars.
“What has this school come to?” she muttered.
“I dunno.”
She shook her head silently; secretly wishing she had a boyfriend worth keeping. Although she did have one guy at her Youth Group she had a huge crush on. But before she could think any longer about him, a tan car parked right next to her and a pretty girl with dyed-blonde hair and brown eyes waved enthusiastically to her.
“Hi Katie!” she greeted as her and her long-term boyfriend, Dan climbed out of the car.
“Hi Laura, hi Karen!” the two of them said in unison. Katie was a good friend of Laura’s ever since they were both freshmen, when Dan and Katie were only good friends. Dan, on the other hand, was a senior, whom Laura worked with at the Family Farm. ‘It’s more of a little kids’ petting zoo,’ she’d describe the place as. But she loved working there none-the-less.
“Have you guys found a place yet?” the tall, thin, dark-haired senior asked.
“No, thank the Lord”
“That is so unfair that your parents are making you guys move while you’re in the middle of high school!” Katie complained as they all mounted the stairs to the second floor of the first building. Laura rolled her eyes in disgust of the subject.
“Yeah, but they’ve been talking about moving for about four years now, and nothing has happened…so I’m not worried about it anymore.”
“Yeah, but Laura, Mom has a scheduled appointment to see this one house way up north. Including 47 acres, an indoor arena and a real nice looking barn.” Karen pointed out.
“Look you guys, I just don’t want to talk about it-every time we get into a conversation about moving I start getting upset, and I want this to be a good day, all right? There was a sudden silence within the group after her sudden outburst.
“Sorry Laura…”
“Yeah, sorry”
“Look, it doesn’t matter, nothing is going to happen…you’ll see.” Laura concluded as she walked into her first hour class.
~7 years later~
“Who knew archaeology was never like it was portrayed in Indiana Jones?” Laura chuckled at her roommate’s comment. “The only reason I had wanted to become an archaeologist was to go on those adventures, playing Tarzan in the jungle, running from evil Nazis…not to mention getting Harrison Ford!”
“OH come on, Sam, he’s like, 80 years old!”
“He is not!” Samantha shot back, “he’s just…losing his hair a bit.”
“Well, at least my hero still has his hair!”
Sam rolled her eyes, “Oh yes, Hercules…the show that was canceled more than 20 years ago!”
“17 years to be exact.” Laura informed her as they walked out of the Science Building at Lexington University. “So anyway, we’ve got about 5 hours to spare…want to go on a trail ride?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Laura…I’ve got that hot date tonight, remember?”
“Oh shoot, that’s right…well then, maybe I’ll just stay in the dorm and work on homework or something.” Laura stated flatly.
“Which reminds me,” Sam checked her watch, “I need to hurry if I’m going to make it on time and take a quick shower…catch up with you later, and don’t wait up!” she called back over her shoulder as she took of in the direction of the dorms.
“Oh Heavenly Father,” she called out, “you’ll walk with me back to my dorm, won’t you?” A gentle wind blew in the direction of the large dorm building, she chuckled, loving the absolutely beautiful day God had provided for a nice mile walk from the campus. “Maybe someone actually replied to the e-mails I’ve sent out.” Laura muttered as she straightened the backpack on her back, tucked in a few blonde, loose strands, and began the hike.
“Adam, did you know this?” the 24 year-old called out to his best friend during a brisk October afternoon.
“What?”
“Did you know that Adam was 930 years old when he died… and that between the ages of 130 and 800, he had Seth along with other sons and daughters?” Adam chuckled as the image of the very first man alive had lived for so long.
“That’s because disease, pollution and murder wasn’t ever part of his lifestyle.”
“It is so amazing that I’ve had this book for my entire life, and yet it still amazes me everyday!”
“Well, Jake, it’s God’s word. It’s what keeps you coming back fore more.” Adam commented to the future youth pastor. “But anyway, I’ve got another lecture to go to in a couple minutes, and if I don’t leave now, I’ll never understand what’s going on. See you later tonight!”
“Yeah, see ya!” Jake called out as Adam walked out the door with two extra thick textbooks under his arm. He was about to put away his guitar and music when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Jake! Hey, are you going to John’s wedding?” a crisp, excited voice asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you get the e-mail? Our main man ‘Roadie’ is getting married next month…don’t you read your e-mails?”
“Ben, you know very well that I check that once a week…if I’m lucky!”
“Well, check it now, it’s got all the details and I have to get to that lecture – bye!”
Dial tone.
“John’s getting married?” Thoughts of their high school years floated back to his mind as he set the phone down on the receiver. He could remember everything, especially their Youth Group at Northbrook Church back in Wisconsin. ‘Boy, those were the good ole’ days’ Jake thought. The foursome (Ben, Adam, John and him) went everywhere together, did everything together, and drove everywhere together. They even fought over a girl in Youth Group, he recalled. Her name was Brin and she was the thinnest, prettiest girl that he could remember. Unfortunately, she had relocated to California to pursue a dancing career. ‘But that’s all in the past,’ he admitted.
“Sure enough, there it is,” he muttered to himself. The title read: “The Family Station Wagon Roadie.”
* Hey Jake! Hope all is going well over there…well it’s finally happened…I’m getting married! She’s incredible! Can’t wait for you to meet her! Here’s the info: Who: John Matthews and Julia Harrison When: December 7th, 2007 Where: Wedding: Northbrook Church Reception: Davian’s R.S.P.V. John Matthews (you have my e-mail addy)
“Gee John…thought I’d at least be the best man or something…but then again… I had hoped to be married before you.” He gave a small sigh.
“Holy cow, look at all these e-mails!” Laura exclaimed as her eyes scrolled down the long list of friends and family names. Her address book contained approximately 40 different names and e-mails… ‘more than fifty percent of those names must be in here,’ she thought happily. Excitedly, she opened the e-mail from her best friend, Nicole. They had lost touch ever since Laura moved farther up north with her family in the middle of high school. The title of the e-mail read; “Ahh, my life” Tons and tons of paragraphs were written, but Laura was excited about the other e-mails and decided to summarize each paragraph. The title of the e-mail read; “Ahh, my life” Tons and tons of paragraphs were written, but Laura was excited about the other e-mails and decided to summarize each paragraph. The first was about how much she was enjoying her life at Marquette University back at Laura’s home state, Wisconsin. She was in the field of EMT, read the second paragraph, and continued in the next paragraph how she and her high school sweetheart, Jason, were still together. The next paragraph was on where she was living on campus and how she was minoring in Free-Lance writing. The last paragraph, however, got Laura a little choked up when Nicole wrote about how her grandma had taken ill and passed away only a few months ago. ‘I’ll be adding that to my prayer list tonight,’ she thought sadly.
“I love getting e-mails,’ Laura commented after wiping the tears from her eyes as she double-clicked into her other good friend, a “Jesus-friend” she’d call her, Melissa, who was going to college in California, studying in the Performing Arts…acting mainly. Once again, she had decided to just skim over most of it; reading the details later, and summarizing the letter. A large smile spreac across her face as she read about how Melissa had finally met her “future husband,” as she called him, AJ from the Backstreet Boys…details, details…Laura had gotten an e-mail from her last week, and nothing too new was in this letter.
“Now, what’s this?” she asked as she opened an e-mail from a good friend from her past church, Northbrook. The title read; “The Family Station wagon Roadie.” She read a few lines and her eyes widened, “John’s getting married?” The quick e-mail read:
*Hey Laura…Hope all is well over there…well its finally happened…I’m getting married! She’s incredible! Can’t wait for you to meet her! Here’s the info: Where: Northbrook church – wedding When: December 7, 2007 Who: John Matthews and Julia Harrison RSPV: John Matthews: Big_J_Roadie@hotmail.com
“Oh man…good going John!” she exclaimed, “now all I have to do is drive or catch a plane back to Wisconsin. That’s actually going to be fun!” she thought. “but first, I’ll read the next e-mail or two before I start making plans…oh yeah, an e-mail from Tabby!” Double-clicking into her e-mail, she began thinking of all the wild times Nicole, Tabitha and she had together. They all got into the “writing stories” business at about the same time, and together they went to the homecomings and major high school events. “LOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” it began. Laura could just imagine her large amount of emphasis on her nickname, and she loved it. “I’ve got SO much to tell you – okay, first…”
Adam had returned late that night, as he had expected, but Jake was up doing his homework.
“Did you get the news about John, Adam?”
“Yeah, Ben told me…isn’t that wild? I’m really excited to go back and seeing everyone again. You remember…everyone from our youth group?”
“Well, yeah, but I’m not sure who John has all invited.”
Adam shot him a look, “Who wouldn’t John invite?…everyone loved him!”
“Well, I know…I’m sure that he’s gotten ahold of Katie, Justin and Brin.”
“And don’t forget Brent, the other Brent, Nikki and Laura.”
Jake was about to add more to the names but then stopped.
“What…what’s wrong? You know which Brent I’m talking about, right?”
Jake was about to comment that wasn’t it, but then figured that if he was surprised at the sound of Laura’s name, they would get into a big discussion and he would feel even more uncomfortable about her. “Yeah…which Brent are you talking about?…Oh yeah, I remember…never mind.”
“I was going to say, it’s kind of hard to forget him!”
Jake chuckled nervously, “Yeah…” “So anyway, are you going to go?” Adam asked as he set his backpack down and jumped into bed.
“Oh yeah…I’ll find a way to keep my schedule clear. Ben’s going though, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Adam closed his chocolate-colored eyes as Jake went back to his homework. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
“Why is someone knocking on the door at 10:30 at night?” Adam complained as he got up to answer the door.
“The Roadie has landed!” A deep voice boomed with excitement.
“John! Hey man, what are you doing here?”
“Hi John! We’ve missed you!”
“I know, I know…” John stated as he dragged in a suitcase. “It is a little late, but there was some bad weather down in Milwaukee, hope I didn’t wake anyone up.”
“Oh no,” Jake guaranteed. “I was finishing up some homework. But you may have woken up Adam.”
“No he didn’t…I was just resting my eyes.”
“If you guys don’t have any room in here for me, I totally understand-“
“Oh no, we’ve got lots of room!” Adam exclaimed as he finally shut the door.
“Well anyway,” John began “did you guys get my e-mail?”
“Yeah we did,” Jake answered, “Congratulations!” John’s face turned to a deep red.
“Thanks.”
“Hey yeah…so tell us about her.”
“Wait, wait, wait…before we talk about her…let me ask you guys something. Would you both like to stand-up for me at the wedding?”
Both the jaws of Jake and Adam fell.
“As the groom’s men, I mean.” John explained.
“Yeah! That would be awesome!” Jake exclaimed.
“I’m in!”
“Great!” John exclaimed excitedly as he pulled up a chair.
“So who’s the best man?” Adam asked, “I mean, not to be nosy or anything, we’ll eventually find out.
“See, I knew one of you would ask that question, and believe it or not, I went through a lot of thinking to determine who should be my best man. But in the end, I had decided to pick Ben. OH hey, Andy will also be standing up for me as a groom’s man.
“All right, the entire gang will be there!” Jake chimed in.
~To be continued~
