The year is 1984.

I am back at Abilene Christian University (ACU).

I had spent the summer of 1983 there, between my Junior and Senior years of High School, as a college freshman. ACU had a "Junior Scholar" program, where someone takes summer classes as a new freshman, between their last two years of High School. I had racked up 15 semester hours between that summer, and advanced academic credits from test scores.

I lived in Edwards dorm. Yes, I lived in "The Zoo". I had a roommate that drove me nuts. On a good day, I could have a coherent single thought in my room. On a bad day, the noise was enough to drive me up a wall.

For instance, one Sunday morning, I had been up until 5 studying. I was trying to sleep at 8 AM. (The floor had communal bathrooms, with single shower stalls. Two per floor, on that wing.) At 8:30, the guy in the room next to the door to the bathroom started blasting Bon Jovi's "Little Runaway" as loud as his 5 watt stereo could play. It woke me up, and I was not happy about it.

I had a 20 watt stereo, with speakers that had a 50 watt limit, meaning, I could crank my stereo to "11" with no distortion.

So, after 3 and a half hours of sleep on a Sunday, I was awake, and not happy about it. I "returned fire". I put Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance" in the stereo, and cranked it up to 9. I had never turned it above 7 before, and that was DEAFENING, in my room. I walked to the bathroom, the room next to the Bon Jovi fan, and got in the shower. I could make out the lyrics and the guitar solos over the shower.

I finished my shower, walked back to my room, and shut down my stereo. It was quiet on the hall for the rest of the morning. It was nice.

So, I had to get away from where I lived, on a regular basis.

I went to the Student Center, just like I had the summer of '83. Hung out on those weird kind of couch things near the post office ... in front of that bulletin board.

It was one of "those" days, early in the fall of 1984.

I had checked my mail, and read everything of interest on the bulletin board. So, I laid back on one of those semi-couch things.

I wasn't there to get away from people. I was in the "Student Center"! I was there to get away from the insanity. Interaction was great, but sane interaction was what I was looking for.

So, there I am.

Most of the friends I had made the year before were either graduates, or they lived off campus, and I didn't know where. It was 1984, there was no Internet, and no cell phones.

So, there I am.

A person plops down on the couch-thing a few feet away, and starts talking to me. It's a girl.

I have a high school cheerleader girl-friend, 800 miles away. The girl talking to me is not "my type", at all, but she is sweet, and she is fun. Like me, she is a long way away from home, she is not from Texas. She is fun to talk to. It's the kind of interaction that I am looking for.

Over the next few months, serendipitiously, we did this again, and again. We talked about nothing, and everything. We helped maintain each other's sanity.

Her name was Cara.

At a time where I had no family around, Cara became the sister I always wanted.

A lot happened to deepen this relationship over the next few years, but that is the foundation.

Labels: Abilene Christian University