Bonfire

Okay, I have to backtrack to get you up to speed. Things have been quite eventful around here! Two weekends ago, as I think I mentioned before, Kenny took me down to College Station for my FIRST Texas A&M game. I wrote from Houston. We've been home a week now, and my heart stayed in Texas! We got up on Saturday morning and went with Mike and Amanda to College Station from Houston, stopping at Christy's (no idea if that's how you spell it) for kolaches, which are these cool pastries filled with various meats and cheeses. I also had an apple fritter....my favorite!! Satiated, we drove on. Upon our arrival at Texas A&M, we went straight to the Bonfire Memorial. For those non-Ags out there, in 1999, the bonfire at Texas A&M fell, killing 12 students. This bonfire is traditionally 5 stories high, so you can imagine the devastation that this caused. Since it happened, Kenny had never been to the memorial. I'm not sure if Mike had or not. It was really, really amazing. As you walk in, you go down a walkway flanked by a concrete wall cut into, well, notches I guess. Each notch represents a year of bonfire. Notably, 1963's had no notch...that was the year when President Kennedy was killed. There was no bonfire that year. As you enter the heart of the memorial, you see quickly that it is set up as a compass. For each of the 12 students, there is a doorway. Each doorway looks out to its student's hometown. Inside each doorway is a bronze-cast portrait of the student, an inscription of his/her hometown, and inscriptions of quote made by family and friends, and sometimes the students themselves. It was an emotional experience to walk from doorway to doorway and read the pain these families and the school felt. Still feel. And then, right there in the middle of the compass is "Center pole." There is a round stone there with the date of the accident inscribed. On it, students and friends have laid coins which (to our best guess) mean something like "good luck" or "best wishes." The four of us shared an emotional moment there at Center pole. My first and last Center pole. We all agreed that we were glad we went to the Bonfire Memorial first...it set the tone for an amazing day....

Whoop!!

So, yesterday Kenny and I flew down to Houston. Did you notice that there were no kids listed after the "Kenny and I"? That's right. My patron saint in-laws are keeping all three kids for 4 days and 3 nights, while Kenny and I have a mini-vacation for the weekend. And it gets better. We didn't just fly to Houston for a simple getaway. Nooooo. We flew to Houston to meet up with and stay with some of our dearest friends whom we haven't seen in, oh, something close to two years. God is good!! Mike and Amanda Owen both went to Texas A&M with Kenny. However, I didn't meet them until Kenny and Mike were together in flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Then, since they are stalkers (it's so obvious, Mike!), they followed us to Okinawa, Japan. We were finally separated when we moved to North Carolina. They moved to Corpus Christi, Texas. However, this is one of those rare friendships that has stood the test of time and distance. They are family to us. In fact, even their family is family to us. We are staying with Mike's parents this weekend. (By "we", I mean all of us...Kenny, me, Mike, Amanda, and their son Austin! Yikes! Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Owen!) Today (Friday), Mrs. Owen is taking Austin for the day. Mike, Amanda, Kenny, and I are headed out on the town. We're going to hit some museums and eat some AWESOME food, and basically soak up our time together. But it gets better. (Doesn't it always?!) Tomorrow is the real event. Mike, Amanda, and Kenny are taking me to my first EVER Texas Aggies football game. WHOOP!!!!!!!!! I am beyond excited about this! For those of you unfortunate non-Aggies (with whom I number myself), a Texas A&M football game is a BIG deal. I've never heard of another school with such rich tradition and history. I confess that I am more than a little intimidated by what I don't know...basically, I'm afraid I'll look like a fool! They have "yell leaders", NOT to be confused with cheerleaders, who are all guys. They stand by the field and use arm motions to let the crowd know which cheer we are going to do. So, instead of the usual cheerleaders doing the cheer and the crowd clapping, the WHOLE stadium (minus opposing team fans) does the cheer. I CANNOT wait!! So, tomorrow is for marroon and white! I'll let you know if I survive! And the best part of the whole deal is that I get to experience this with such dear old friends. God is the best. Talk to you soon!