The Real World - Wilmore, KY

The man was wearing a pair of cut off jeans, a black v-neck tee from the early 80s, and a well worn pair of fabric crocs. He got out of his cherry red mini van and in tow was a young girl. As I watched him in the reflection of the gas station window pane, I thought to myself, "whose that dorky dad?" Katherine did not appreciate as I shared my thoughts as she wondered where that left her being married to me - the dad in question. We were in rout to our sister's graduation in Wilmore KY when I caught a glimpse of myself in the windows of a gas station.

It had been 9 years since we had last been in Wilmore. Four worlds removed (Benton, Dallas, Atlanta, and Lafayette) and three kids later, we could only remember bits and pieces of our last trip. A bed and breakfast with a double bed, squeaky springs, situated next to a railroad track were some of my faint memories of our last trip. As I watched "aunt" Becs graduate (way to go Aunt Becs!!), I reminisced on my past graduations. Like our first visit to Wilmore they are a little fuzzy . . . My high school gym, open houses,and anticipation of college; the Purdue marching band, Elliot Hall, and a sea of graduates, wondering what the next step would be; Prestonwood, my professors, the commencement speaker that encouraged us to stay close to Christ and His Word, pictures with Luke in my cap, and again wondering where we would go next . . .

The time in Wilmore was filled with CFA, a giant play ground, slumber parties with "aunt Becs, cartoons (we don't get any tv), and happy reunions with Grandmother and Granddad. I did manage to get one run in around Asbury College, bringing ever closer to home the fact that I have "graduated" from the fairy tailed halls of academia and find myself mid stride in the "real world" that the honorary speaker warned the graduates they were facing.  A world where my highlights now consist of watching Ava Marie have her hair French braided by grandmother, helping little Hadden fall asleep on the car ride home, or navigating the playground with Luke leading the way!