Lunch with Whit

Coming from Japan, I wasn't like most college freshmen. My dad was military, so it afforded me professional packers to move me in while other freshmen had their cars loaded up to the roof and were hauling their own gear into their rooms. Now here I was in Oklahoma far from the Orient and its a casual environment.

Not only was I in a new place, but I was in a strange place. I had moved quite often growing up so I was used to being the new kid, but I felt like such a foreigner at this point in life. Most of the places I'd called home in the years prior were mostly tropical, so I was most comfortable in my bikini top and jean shorts. Now I was being greeted by girls with big hair and cowgirl boots on a campus where shorts weren't allowed to be worn.

My college experience was nothing short of the movie, Footloose, where the outsider is seen as a trouble maker when he's just being himself. My school was a private one, where you couldn't drink or dance. If you did - you'd get kicked out. Heck, we even had a curfew and the dorms had strict policies about barring the opposite sex. It felt like a church camp.

My number one goal was to break some rules and not get caught (minus having boys in my room). Not that I was a bad kid, but I had a problem with being told 'not' to do something.

On my first day on campus, I met a smiling and bubbly girl, named Whitney. She was a pastor's daughter, and I was a colonel's kid. And if you've ever seen Footloose you know what pastor's kids are like. IF you've ever seen 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' then you know what Colonel's daughters are like. We were a dangerous duo and loved every minute of it - and she's one of my best friends to this day.

I had lunch with Whit today. She drove down with her daughter from Kansas. She moved there after college graduation and ended up married with two kids. I was a bridesmaid and have seen her grow into a lovely young woman. I've since stayed here, put down roots for the only time in life, and am married with one child. We're still a crazy couple of girls, but nothing compared to back in the day.

We both dutifully attended our Christian private school, with Christian backgrounds, but were very rebellious. I think most bouncers and bar owners knew us by name, but now we're more into school functions or PTA. We've obviously calmed down and grown-up, but because of our backgrounds are more well adjusted than girls we went to school, who didn't let loose back then. These were the girls that looked down their noses at us because we were 'bad girls.' Now, they are the ones in the bars experimenting with life, because they couldn't then.

Seeing Whit today gave me such a lift, just remembering our shenanigans. The practical jokes we got away with that only she and I know about. A few little minor infractions of the rules/law here or there that we never got caught doing and a lot of dancing and drinking went into play in the '90s. Here is a picture of us before....and after ten years.

A casual night at home, with big hair and lots of make-up...circa august 1994


After lunch, trying to get out of getting the sun grins. A few more laugh lines, less make-up, and calmer hair....but still smiling big!

Both back to our Christian faith, although we were never removed...we just lived a little. Both enjoying the blessings God has given us, and thankful we made it through our rebellion to see what God had and has in store for us.