A Gift For Karen

Just Me & the Dog, Day 9-  Thanks to Jamie Robinson and Teresa Tysinger for playing along in yesterday's contest- your SPAM is in the mail!  Mom came yesterday, took me to Red Lobster for lunch.  It's not Calabash, but it will do!  Have appointments today and tomorrow, so I will keep the buses busy!  I appreciate everyone who has been asking about me during this "alone" time- Marilyn and Will get back Thursday night!  Whoooooo-hoooooo!!!

During my years in Kissimmee we had an outstanding Youth Ministry Team, and no one was a bigger part of it that Karen Fry (pictured above at my 50th birthday party, in the middle wearing the white top).  The mother of James, Jason and Josh (and wife of Jim), Karen worked for the county schools as a "Lunch Lady (cue Adam Sandler song)."  That meant she had summers off, or would have if she hadn't volunteered such huge blocks of time to be with us.  She and Jim loved going with us to the Betsy B. in Myrtle Beach, and in 1997 they were with us there for Karen's birthday.

You may know about Black Thursday (or you can read about it by clicking here), but the basic concept is that on any youth trip there will come a time when people get tired of each other and tempers may flair.  June 19, 1997 (unless I am wrong about the date, which is entirely possible!) happened to be the Thursday of our beach trip, and it also happened to be Karen's birthday.  We combined the two into one big Black Thursday Birthday surprise!!!

Karen was in the kitchen of the Betsy B. fixing her world famous "spaghetti for 45" when the excitement began.  The details have long since slipped my mind, but somehow we had it set-up for Nate Hill and Ben Thompson to begin to argue just outside the kitchen.  As Karen cooked away, the guys became more animated and the conversation grew more heated.  Suddenly, right under Karen's nose, Black Thursday broke out.  The boys were fighting.  One of them (Ben I believe) was bleeding (it was actually fake blood we had planted in his mouth).  Several of us rushed in to break it up, as Karen looked on, completely distraught.  As it all broke up, several of the group turned to Karen and told her that we knew how much she looked forward to Black Thursday, and that this our birthday gift to her.  Everyone was now laughing, including Karen, who realized she had been pranked!  The evening continued with no further incidents and a wonderful spaghetti dinner.  It was a most memorable night- if memory serves it was also the night I wrote Too Many Reeps...

Marilyn and I think the world of Jim & Karen Fry, and so did all of the youth.  Karen is a perfect example of how much impact you can have in the lives of teenagers without trying to be "cool" or "hip."  She was simply Karen- mother of 3 and school lunch lady.  And the youth loved her so much.  It was indeed special to have them at my 50th birthday celebration, and they were nice- no pranks!  Nate is now finishing law school, and Ben is serving his country in Afghanistan.  But if they need something to fall back on, they should consider acting.  They certainly deserved OSCARS that night!

Because of Jesus,