Well, before we get to the stuff after graduation, we can't leave out one of the BEST Senior Trips
that anyone could have asked for. This is a link to my old journal about the four day trip to
San Antonio....my home away from home and my favorite vacation spot.
Senior Trip 2001 journal entries
I walked the streets with some of my closest friends growing up and it took me forever to find the
old link to my website back in the day. I remember those days out under that clear hot and
mesmerizing Texas moon. It was Fiesta time and we danced the night away and had some of the
best homemade street food you could imagine. When I looked at the moon those nights, many
things went through my mind. The RiverWalk has a bridge (where they filmed Jennifer Lopez as
she played the Tejano music superstar Selena talking to her future husband in the movie) and I
spent a little while one night looking at that moon and my reflection in the water below. I just
thought the future had so much promise and that I was going to do good things and make something
of myself. The only world I knew was Gans and the friends that I'd spent the majority of my entire
life growing up with...and that would be ending soon. Everything I thought would always be there
was going to change. What did college hold for me? Would I know anybody? Would I ever be as
close to my other classmates as I was with the previous ones? Would I ever make any new friends
at all?
All of these thoughts were swimming through my mind. I had been accepted into Carl Albert State
College and would be studying Psychology. I have always felt drawn to people who need help or
are hurting. I just wanted to make a difference and do my part.....and, in my heart, I knew that was
what my calling was....people, more specifically people who are in need. I love history, music, and
meteorology but I was meant to help people or so I thought.
My sister Lisa met and married the son of a Pentacostal preacher named Jesse James. His father
was named Frank James. I know! Isn't that awesome? I thought so. I knew this guy was right for
my sister the moment he met my father one evening and was sooooo nervous that he asked my
sister where her piano was (because she plays the piano all the time) and he was sitting right by it!
Jesse is probably my closest real life friend that is a guy. I don't have many close real life friends.
Well, unfortunately, Frank passed away at age 49 due to a hole in his heart but he did get to hold
Laney when she was little but never Landon even though Landon's middle name was chosen to be
William in honor of Jesse's father which is a really cool thing.
Anyways, I'm rambling but the church they went to needed a new pastor. This happened in 1999
and so by the time I was graduating high school, they had found one and Jesse&Lisa stayed there
as worship leaders, and later, leaders of the youth group I joined named Chosen. The new pastor and
his family were pretty cool as much as I knew about them. I finally attended the church there when
Laney was graduating from the nursery class to the Toddlers. I wanted to wish her well and enjoyed
the experience. They do things differently than I was used to but I thought it was cool. It took me
a while figure out that they talk during prayer. At my old church they just selected someone to
pray and everyone else just bowed their heads. Oh well.....when you're in Rome...*smiles*
Something also happened that Sunday. I met the new preacher's daughter Jennifer. I seen her sitting
at the other end of the pew giggling and blushing while talking to these other girls. They would
look at me and burst out laughing like only girls can do while trying to cover their mouths to act like they weren't laughing at all. For a moment, I thought maybe I had a cowlick or something on my face until I met Jennifer's eyes and she smiled. Mustering up some courage, I walked over and introduced myself. She was very tall and had long auburn hair...and blue eyes. I asked her out on a date before I realized what I said but, by that time, she had already said yes. We went to see the first Shrek movie and laughed until our sides split. I almost drove off the road while driving her back to the church due to looking at her while talking. I still hadn't mastered the art of conversing with a lady and properly operating a motor vehicle. It's a lot harder then you'd think turns out. >_<
We made it back in one piece, thanks to Almighty God, and I opened the back of the Jeep so we
could sit and look out onto the night sky at all the stars and we just talked while waiting for her
parents to come pick her up. As I sat there holding her hand, I looked over at her and we had one
of those awkward silent moments.....that seem to be in slow motion or like something from the
Matrix movie. Next thing I knew, I had leaned over and gave her a kiss and she kissed me back.
Then she smiled at me and.....then her father came around the corner and I about had a heart attack!
LOL! I think he did too because he kept saying Jesus a lot but I didn't think that was out of the
ordinary as he was a preacher and all. After I settled down, I realized that he was laughing at me
trying to apologize for kissing his daughter. He said it was just fine but maybe not such a good
idea here at the church and all. Of course, I agreed with that wholeheartedly. Whew! Now THAT
was a close one but I wasn't killed and, apparently, now had my first serious girlfriend. A few
days later, I headed off with my parents on a Las Vegas vacation but not before getting a goodbye
kiss. I even signed our names on the wall of the Grand Canyon. Nothing says romance like writing
her name in stone. :P (The Las Vegas photos are on my Facebook Photos page)
So, I get back and started attending that church on regular basis. They had a youth group named
Chosen and we went on all kinds of trips like up to Eureka Springs to see the Passion play and
even Branson. It made it better that some of us were couples. Jen and me, Brandon and Amber (who
stayed together and are now married with two beautiful kids), and Jimmy and Brandi (Amber's
sister). Eddie (the preacher's son) was there too. He was the drummer of the worship group. Jesse
was good at about everything but Eddie was born to play the drums. The girls would sing backups
and I would sing lead vocals and guitar. Lisa played piano and Jesse played bass. We competed at
many church youth group competitions and won Best Oklahoma State Group for the church but
didn't win at Nationals. Like I said, everything was great. I decided to start training to become a
preacher under Jennifer's father. His son, Eddie, had no desire to carry on the family legecy and
I can't blame him. He wanted to be his own man and be a success on his own right but I started
getting the sense that his father was upset about it. You can't force someone to do something they
don't feel the calling for....Jesse loved his father but didn't want to be a preacher. Jesse found his
niche in singing and leading young people. So, I could see where Eddie was coming from as well.
His father felt differently and really put undo pressure on Eddie after that and, of course,
that drove him farther away. Jennifer, however, could do no wrong in her father's eyes it seemed.
This will be a major factor later but stick with me. I'll get there. Eddie's father would need someone
else to carry on the family tradition and if his true son wouldn't then he'd have to find a new one.
A son-in-law......*thinks of the Emperor Palpatine and his new Apprentice Darth Vader* Oh, and
there was also Joe and Nikki as a couple in the group.
Despite all of those undetones and foreshadowing of things to come, my relationship with Jennifer
was doing great. She was homeschooled all of her life and had never been to a school dance much
less a Prom...so, like the good boyfriend that I was, I decided to remedy that problem. I borrowed
my sister's tiara, CD player, and a burnt copy of the songs (selected by me) from my junior and
senior proms. I even searched around Wal-Mart and pieced together a disco ball (see why I'm
Crafters Lead on DM?..:P) so we could turn down the lights during the slow songs. I had the
youth group and her parents all waiting to take pictures at the church's fellowship hall and then
I went to pick her up from work at the pharmacy. I blindfolded her and led her from the car to the
building while she kept asking questions and I'll never forget the look on her face when I took off
the blindfold and she saw everybody. The parents took "prom pictures" and she won Prom Queen
(yeah, big surprise there but I went all out here..Hehe) then I gave her my class ring. We danced and
she rested her head on my shoulder. In the pre-911 world, things could not be better or at least I
thought so. I couldn't have been more wrong. The Dark Ages were just around the corner.
-Thork
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