Our story
The Meet Up
Debi’s Version: Ken loves to tell this story!! I am not as fond of it, but his story is true, so I’ll let you read his details - and yes I really was a blondie in a pink mini-skirt in the smoking lounge at Herndon High School when we met.
Ken’s Version: Debi and I were juniors in high school and didn’t know each other. My friend Bob and her friend Tracy were boyfriend and girlfriend, and they arranged a blind date for us. I had never laid eyes on Debi, and didn’t know who she was at all. One day before our date as I was headed into the smoking lounge at the high school between classes, one of my other friends who knew Debi told me that she was in the smoking lounge. I asked what she looked like, and he told me she was a blonde wearing a pink mini-skirt. So I went in to the smoking lounge and, since it was 1972, there were about a dozen blondes wearing pink mini-skirts, but then the most gorgeous one, an absolute goddess, separated herself from the pack and sashayed over to me, looked up at me, and asked me to light her Virginia Slim. I’ll never forget that moment, having never been approached by anything that lovely before, or since. I did manage to light her cigarette ok.
Building Us
Debi’s Version: This is my heart. We were young in love and had no intentions of raising a large family (at least Ken didn’t!). Two years into marriage our first son Lloyd was born, next year Kenneth Jr., next year Elizabeth, five years later Curtis, and ten years after Curtis Charles came along. From twenty-three years old through forty years old we were being blessed with children so, needless to say, our lives were filled with activity. Thankfully we were raised by parents who loved the Lord and passed their faith on to us. We needed God’s grace and patience. The secret to success, I believe, during all of these busy and sometimes trying times was 1) knowing for certain that God was in control of everything and 2) being in love with each other.
Ken’s Version: I don’t recall ever discussing it specifically, but from the beginning it was clear that Debi was going to be the center of whatever we were going to become. She is the life-giving source and the spiritual gravity of our family; my primary function has always been to guard the perimeter and provide resources. I’m not at all embarrassed to say that, on balance, we have enjoyed a magnificent partnership.
Now
Debi’s Version: It’s golden - it’s calm, it’s relaxing, it’s still romantic, it’s an ongoing story. Our children and grandchildren are a part of our lives on a daily basis, and we enjoy keeping up with all of their details. Praise Jesus for the many years together, and more to come. I love you Ken!
Ken’s Version: Smiling as I write this, because although Debi and I spent many separate hours when I was working and traveling in my thirties, forties and fifties, now we are hardly ever apart, thank God! Oh my girl, I hope that much proximity isn’t stifling to you - I just don’t want to miss any remaining moments together. It’s been an extraordinary half-century-plus Debi; baby we were born to run!
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1 Corinthians 13:4-8: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud... Love never fails."
