Connecting The Dots - Part 2

Hey.  So it's been a while (an understatement. severe understatement) since I first started this.  Here's the first part as a refresher.

When we last left the story, I was beginning my serial career as a student at Ball State, starting to date Mark, er, um Mark's sister, and experiencing life outside of small town existence for the very first time.  Yes, Muncie Indiana was a huge metropolis for me.  It had everything. Restaurants, parks, shopping (a mall!), traffic lights, and it was only twenty minutes from Mark and his family.

After moving in to off campus housing - with two roommates in a one bedroom sublet apartment - I spent just about every weekend with Mark's family and they treated my like I was one of their own.  I went snowmobiling that winter with Mark, helped re-roof his family's house in the spring, and re-learned how to play pick-up basketball.  I also learned that I could wear shorts and not have people laugh at my chicken legs (oops, different story).

That first year there, I also joined their church.  Since it was a branch of the same church I had grown up with, it was an easy transition.  It was the same small town, traditional, close knit, conservative protestant church that I had grown up with.  Move mine a few hours to the east, change the architecture, but pretty much the same.  I'm pretty sure that some of the biddy's who sat in quiet judgment of others were cloned just to sit in congregations of that particular church all across the Midwest.

One of the great things about that church was that they had a youth group for the teens.  Technically I think it was meant for high school students, but since I was still a teen and was close friends with Mark & dating his sister, the group sponsors let me hang out.  It was kind of an outreach program for the new kid in town - does anyone else hear The Eagles playing? No?  Must be that awful DJ in my head again.  I think the word I'm looking for is anyway...

One of the activities that our youth group did was to get together with other area church youth groups about once a month for roller skating parties.  Heavily supervised.  You never know what a group of teenagers are going to do while on wheels.  After a while, you start recognizing some of the same people and eventually your circle of friends expands.  At the time, I just didn't realize to what extent.

My second year at BSU, I decided that I needed to find a part time job to help pay some of the bills that a person incurs living off campus as I had moved to be closer to my friends in their town.  Finally in October I landed a job at Sears (at the mall!) working in the hardware, paint, and small appliance department.  Oh, we also sold lighting, outdoor lawn equipment and Christmas supplies in our area.  Schizophrenic department planning~ no wonder Sears has such a difficult time as a retailer.  My first day I walk in and see a girl that I had met at the roller skating parties.  Meg was just as surprised to see me there.  It had been at least six months or so since we had run into one another (not literally) at the skating parties.

Meg and I quickly fell into an easy friendship.  What wasn't to like?  She was outgoing, funny, and had a killer smile that spoke of more worldly knowledge than I could possibly imagine.  And Meg was my introduction to a life outside of the church.

(to be continued)