I have over 32 years of fond St. Luke’s memories.  The beginning of my St. Luke’s experience was marrying my wife, Anne in the chapel in 1989, which seems like just a few years ago. Hard to believe I have lived more of my life since that day than prior, boy how time flies when you are having fun with marriage, kids, career, life.  Once we had our son and daughter, Kevin and Ellen who are now respectively 28 and 26 our St. Luke’s life really took off.  Because the church provides so many avenues for families to participate in a safe, nurturing, Christian environment we were hooked from the start.  First, the kids were christened then they were enrolled in the day school.  Kevin was a toddler when they were building the new wing of the day school and gym, and classes were held in temporary buildings in the parking lot. Then along came Ellen and she joined her brother in the day school.  That would be our first experience as young parents meeting other parents and participating in sports on the Blanton field, soccer, and then basketball in the new gym.  Our kids made some of their strongest and longest-lasting friendships there as did we with the parents. This was also our first experience at volunteering to work on various day school activities and fundraisers, such as the Book Sale and auctions.

We really followed our kids and their activities as supportive parents and volunteers in those activities.  From Sunday school teachers to chaperones as they became involved in youth activities such as MYF, retreats, talent shows, etc.. Then when first our son joined Pure Sound then later his sister we entered a whole new world of parent support and participation as they embarked on their combined 7-year choral journey. Where to begin?  Like most tasks in life you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into until you are too far in to back out.  But these tasks were truly labors of love.  From the weekly choir rehearsals to three Sundays every month having the kids at church at 7:45 am ready to sing for the 8:30 service. Have you ever tried to motivate a teenager to get up early on a Sunday? No small task indeed but Sid Davis has instilled in these kids the proper level of responsibility to get them there most Sundays with a minimum of complaining. Then there were the annual events, the retreat to kick off the year, the October Pumpkin Patch, the auction and spaghetti dinner, the spring musical and the August production of Babes on Broadway.  I am telling you the drama and hilarity behind the scenes helping put on the musicals and having a successful pumpkin patch were worthy of a sitcom of their own, year after year.  I could write a book on the tears, laughs, frustrations, pride, and wonderful lifelong friendships both our kids formed with their peers and Anne and me with the parents. We have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to bond with so many wonderful people as we followed our children on their path from childhood to young adulthood while they participated in all of the many opportunities available for them growing up at St. Luke’s.