I have known my wonderful wife Ruthi, though in those days, she was anything but wonderful, since I was in High School, and she was in Junior High. How I became mindful of her was that she was the younger sister of the “Parker boys.” I was familiar with them, especially the older two, from their true or assumed reputations, rumors of exploits, plus their gregarious personality types. Being an introvert myself, anyone strident and loudmouthed as these was to be avoided. The second oldest brother, Rick, was nearest to my age, so I dealt with his presence at school the most. Because he made me uncomfortable, I did my best to avoid close interaction. It seems he was everywhere, and so uncomfortably loud. I judged Ruthi by the brothers.
My best and closest friend in High School was my cousin Gary. He was cooler than I was, as I was fresh from the Kansas plains and a country boy, and don’t forget; introverted. Gary was gracious to take me in and grow me toward the California early teen scene. He was outgoing in personality, but not uncomfortably loud. We seemed to enjoy each other’s humor and presence.
In High School, there were two major divisions of class of students: upper class, and lower class. For biblical reference, the upper class were the Hebrews, the Israelites, God’s chosen people. The lower class were the Gentiles. In the upper class were two divisions: one being the educational elite, the A-B students, and the second was the “jocks”, the “A-Team” in athletics. The lower class were the C-D students, of which I was one. Gary was sort of lost in the middle. In his mind, he was whichever he was with now. I am not sure that his attempt to fit in with either group was well received, and I am not certain he was truly aware of that.
Gary lived just a few blocks from school, and I had a much longer walk so I met up with Gary every day before school, in fact I woke him up to get ready. Most of the time we went to his house for lunch. His home became my “safe” place. We spent a lot of time there together, talking, laughing and playing guitar. Folk music was a fad in those days. We both had acoustic guitars, but Gary was taking professional lessons. He would go to his lesson for the week and quickly come and teach me what he learned that day. I practiced very hard the things he shared.
One day upon arrival at Gary’s home, my safe place, he was there. What was he doing in my safe place? That Parker boy, Rick, was in “our” meeting place, and he was sitting in my usual spot, the second twin bed in Gary’s room. This was awkward! In my mind, their class structures and personalities did not fit well. I reassured myself that this was a one-time situation, as I stood in the room not sure where I should sit.
That one-time situation became a lifetime of relationships. We often found ourselves, in those early years, playing football in Rick’s long front yard. As it turned out, Ruthi, Rick’s younger sister, would be sitting on the patio with her close friends watching as we played. Showing off in front of girls makes one play better, at least in one’s own mind. Really, I did play better; I never missed catching a running pass. That’s how I remember it.
This new guy relationship, apparently, was God’s way of getting me close enough to the little sister to discover my early judgments to be unfounded. I found myself taking note of her appealing personality traits. But this was not love; not yet. I still had no idea what God was planning for us.
(To be continued)
