Young Love Letters – Part 17

Get caught up on the series here!

My graduation rolled around in mid-May 1995. about one month before Ked’s graduation. He made the drive down for the ceremony and my breakfast open house the following morning. Joel and I had taken the top two spots in our class and we each gave a speech. I had acquired a blueprint from an underclassman’s architect dad. I urged my classmates to continue building on the foundation they had built at our Christian school. Ked sat next to my parents and I couldn’t tell who was beaming more – him or them. That weekend he made the rounds with me to open houses. The northwest Ohio air was warm and the sun shone brightly that weekend.

My Dearest Kedron,

Wasn’t it just 5 minutes ago you were here, next to me, holding me? I had such a wonderful weekend! I don’t understand how it keeps getting better every time. My love has deepened so much for you over this weekend. Why God has blessed me so much, I’ll never understand. You were such a big encouragement to me this weekend (as always!) You have no idea! It meant so much Friday night to look over at different times and just see you there, and then once in awhile meet your gaze and be rewarded with your big grin.

And I’m glad you were there Saturday. It was neat to see you enjoy yourself with Mark and Tony as you all destroyed my table. That’s ok, as long as you had fun. That has impressed me – how well you get along with my friends. It’s so neat to see. And I couldn’t have asked for a better companion to go to all the parties with. I really mean this – I wouldn’t have had half as much fun without you. I’m so thankful you were willing to be dragged around to see all these people. You didn’t know!

And Sunday night. Wow. I’m glad you were there. After I finished talking, I looked over and I knew what you were doing. I knew you were praying for me. That meant more than you will ever know. I saw Mark later at another party and he said, “I heard you apologized to Steph. I don’t think you should have been the one apologizing.” I told him that God’s love compels us to do things we wouldn’t normally do, and I’m so glad that I got the issue taken care of. God is good, isn’t He?

After you left today, I went in, talked to my parents for a little while, and then left for another party. I got into the Bronco and looked at the passenger seat you had sat in all weekend. I missed you sitting there, grinning at me, making conversation. I couldn’t help myself. I cried. I miss you so much The distance isn’t easy, but it’s so worth it. I wish I was always by your side. No matter what comes my way, life seems smoother when I’m next to you. I’m so content and at peace. I feel complete.

I missed you even more on the ride home from the party because of what happened. A car full of guys pulled up behind me. I didn’t think anything of it until they pulled up even with me. I could tell they were purposefully staying with me. If  I sped up, they did too. I didn’t look at them until they started beeping their horn at a stoplight. I shouldn’t have even looked then. The guy had his window down. I kept mine up AND the doors locked. The guy motioned with his hand and asked for my phone number. I glared at them, shook my head, and flashed your class ring. I was so thankful when they sped off. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen when you’re around!

Just a couple weeks after graduation, I headed out on tour with our church’s youth group choir. Tony and I had co-written the program and our group headed south for a week’s worth of meetings in various churches. I looked forward to the tour each summer, but this year even more so, as we were making a stop at Disney World.

About halfway through the tour, my silliness kicked into high gear

Dear Ked,

Well, we’re on the road again! I am too full of energy. You won’t believe what I did last night. I had 3 underclassmen girls in my room, and we were all WIRED. Our room was connected to another room with 4 other girls on our team. After lights out, we crawled into their room and jumped on them and scared them. They screamed SO LOUD. So we went back to our room and 15 minutes later they were talking and laughing. So we called their room and said it was the front desk and we had a few complaints and they needed to quiet down and they took it for real. We were dying laughing because their room got totally silent. We got the youth pastor in on it and at group devotions in the morning he called out their room and said the management had complained. They were so scared. When they found out it was a big joke, they were ready to get me. Ah, the fun of being obnoxious on tour!

Our program went well again, this time speaking to many in our own group. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Goodnight! I miss you!

Love always,
Amy

Unfortunately, Ked’s graduation happened while I was on tour. I was so sad to miss his big day, and although he assured me it was no big deal, he never let me forget that I missed his graduation. He held off his open house until the end of June so that my family and I could come up. I was flattered.