The summer of 1983 I enrolled and started attending Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville, MO. I lived in an apartment with Brad, Steve and Phil. I must say, on strictly a “fun” level, it was definitely one of the most enjoyable summers I ever had. We were four goofy dudes in an apartment, playing cards, going fishing, talking all hours of the night. I only took 6 hours that summer and didn’t yet have a job. So it was shenanigans galore. Phil played guitar, so we would goof around with music. “The Return of the Jedi” was out that summer and there was a theater we could walk to that would show it at midnight every night for 2 bucks, so we’d all go, often. Not a lot of sleep happened, neither did studying.
August of 1983 was super hot (like all Augusts, ever) and I started attending Campus Christian Fellowship (CCF). It was run by one of Sam’s old roomies, Mike Hardy. CCF owned a little house on the south east corner of campus that was open to whoever wanted to use it. There was a larger meeting room in the back where we would have our weekly meetings. There were inadequate window air units and a couple of fans.
The first week of school there were a group of us sitting in the “dining room” at the CCF house talking and sweating. The small oscillating fan was doing little else than pushing the humid air around. The front door to the house swung open and in strode this girl. She had long brown hair, had the sleeves to he little t-shirt rolled-up, and little purple shorts, (I loved those little purple shorts.) She walked directly to the fan (that was oscillating on all of us) grabbed it, plopped herself down on the floor, put the fan in her lap so that it was only blowing on her neck (I’ve always loved that neck.) “It’s hot!” she declared. I knew right then, “She’s the gal for me.”
It took some maneuvering, but by March of the next year, Amy and I were a couple.
Clearly, Amy was (and is) out of my league, but I think we’re a perfectly matched pair. I’m glad things didn’t “work out” at Bible College. We met at exactly the right time.
A year before we actually met, I played music and toured with Tony, Margie and Todd in the group “Potter’s Clay.” We did a concert at the Little Theater on the NMSU campus Amy’s freshman year. She said there were only two things she remembered about that concert: 1.) I wasn’t wearing any shoes and 2.) Her roommate had bought our tape and played it all the time in their room. Amy never directly said this, but I assume that probably drove her crazy.
I had always been about pop/rock music. Amy was more cultured than just that. She was an excellent dancer and was a part of the University Dance Troupe. She had been in musicals and ballets. She was a theater girl. She took me to shows and ballets. She took me to the Muny in St. Louis, and restaurants that had waiters where you had to figure out tips. She taught me what piece of silverware to use for what part of the meal. She helped me pick out clothes that were not just brown (that was my favorite color.) She gave me the encouragement to audition for the University Musical and to audition for The Franklin Street Singers and to take voice lessons and an acting class. Her energy helped me have energy. Her “can-do” optimism helped kick me out of my “woe-is-me” life outlook. After we were married, we ventured down to Nashville to get into the music business. I doubt if I would have done that without her.
You can even see it in the lives of our kids now. Eric’s goal is to be on Broadway. That is a perfectly reasonable goal within the parameters of our family’s expectations. Jaron wants to be a rock-star. I am completely comfortable with that goal, as a matter of fact, we, as parents throw that goal out there for him. The root of that comes from Amy.
I talked a long time to one of the parents of a girl in Eric’s CCM class. He was a good dude and loved his daughter, but neither he nor his wife understood the full impact of how their daughter got to CCM or where she actually was. “Yeah, I heard this is a good school for singers, but if it doesn’t work out, maybe she can transfer to another program here at the University.” I looked at him blankly and said, “You know she was picked out of over 800 other kids who auditioned? You know that this program is for people who go on to have professional careers in performance?” “Yeah, I don’t know about all that. Can she teach as a high school music teacher with this degree?” Come to find out, she had been in choirs and very few shows. She had never taken a dance class. When she auditioned she was accepted solely on the strength of her voice which is nearly impossible to do since everyone is a fantastic singer. Her voice must be phenomenal.
We, on the other hand, have made decisions based on what the maximum goal may be rather than aiming low…or not aiming at all. I must give credit where credit is due. That comes from Amy.
Plus, she’s a really good kisser.
chris
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