April 21, 2008

• Audrey

  

  A high point of the trip was our time with Audrey, my childhood friend, and her husband Brian.  I think it is only because of my friend Mel, aka LimboLady (you know her if you read the comments), that I am in touch with Audrey at all. Mel knew both of us in different seasons and has been faithful to stay connected with both of us.

  The last time Audrey and I saw
  each other was in 1974, but years before that, really, we had gone separate
  ways.  We have known each other since we were three years old. Both of our fathers were Bible teachers and preachers, hers a pretty famous one.  We went to the chapel together, went to Awana together, went to young peoples together, etc.  Audrey was a rebel.  I was pretty much goody-two-shoes.  But, the differences probably had much less to do with any righteousness on my part than the fact that I was a coward and a people-pleaser, flat out scared to try some of the stuff she got away with. 

  The last time I saw Audrey she was running from God.  Her countenance was stiff and hard.  My first impression of Audrey when we met on Friday was how soft and
  sweet she was.  Not a sentimental softness, but a patina of grace. 

  We sat down
  with mugs of steaming tea and quilted a conversation with a hundred pieces
  of news.  Tell me about your kids.  How are your sisters and brothers?  Is your
  dad still living?  Who (from our group of grade school friends) have you stayed
  in touch with? Tell me about your church. Not only do we have our growing up
  years in Lombard in common, but we both went to the same Bible school (CCBS),
  but in different years.  Thus there was an entire community which Curt, Audrey and
  I all had in common. 

  We both had dads who were gone preaching a lot, and
  could speak of the difficulties we both had experienced because of
  absentee fathers with the objectivity which only time can bring. We didn’t
  linger on the bad stuff, but acknowledged it and went forward. The stories kept
  coming, one priming the pump for many more. 

   

  I had forgotten that Audrey and I were fierce
  competitors in Awana prizes and Sunday School games.  She told Brian
  that I was the one who won the sleeping bag for
  memorizing the most verses, when Mrs. Brown had refused to listen to her verses. 
  We laughed, happy to be comrades now instead of competitors. As I went to sleep,
  more stories surfaced, more reasons to laugh together.  

   

  When I came to Danny in the recitation of my
  family’s news, Audrey stunned me by saying, “Danny is one reason why my brother
  John is a Christian.”  John had run away from home, had been robbed of all his
  money, and was sitting disconsolate at the train station in Lombard.  Danny got
  off a train (later Dan had said it was unusual that he had been at the station then) saw John, and spoke with him.  He asked what was up,
  heard his story, and then asked him,  “Is this what you really want?”  John
  decided to go back home, but that question burned in John and was the
  turning point for him.  I haven’t spoken to you, Dan, but I wonder if you
  remember that.  We never know how a little word will be used.

   

  I was astonished to hear that
  my Johnny, my brother !, had written to Brian and Audrey
  for years when they were in Spain.  Wow, Audrey, I only have one letter from
  him!  It was neat to see the connections between our families.  Meanwhile,
  Curt and Brian got on well and enjoyed getting to
  know one another.  Audrey and Brian spend a lot of time in Albania and have been in Croatia a
  lot, so our Croatian connection through Curt’s sister’s husband helped us ask
  intelligent questions.  Brian is interested in Zimbabwe, as we are; we talked about our connections with Zimbabweans and the challenges there.

  I want to reward those of you who have waded through my personal recollections with a superb cooking tip I learned from Audrey.  She made wiener schnitzel (with chicken breast, yum yum) and it came out beautifully.  As we cleaned up together I saw a strange finger of food in the cooking pan.  It was a carrot.  She said an old man in Vienna taught her that anytime you fry something breaded put a carrot in the pan.  The carrot mysteriously keeps the breaded part from burning. 

  

  Here is a picture of us together.

  
  Here is a picture of us in Sunday School so many years ago.

  There was so much ancient and historical to see in Great Britain.  Our friendship sort of fit into that category. 

  But I left Audrey feeling like I have found a true friend.  All the infrastructure has been in place all these years. The Lord has breathed life into these old bones.

  Such a gift.  Such a gift.

  
  

  • 11:35 am
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