September 23, 2002
DOWN HOME:
Some birthday gifts top others
___I received an absolutely terrific birthday present this year. Lindsay came home for the weekend.
___Lindsay, our oldest daughter, is a freshman at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, a fine Baptist school about 200 miles from our driveway in Lewisville.
___Since Joanna and I entrusted our child to our alma mater and drove home Aug. 20, I lived in anticipation of my birthday weekend. Lindsay had promised to skip the HSU Cowboys' first football game to come home and help me get over turning another year older.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___As friends had promised, Jo and I get a little less homesick each week. We know our child, and we could tell right away she thoroughly enjoyed HSU. So, when we think about being sad because she isn't tromping down our stairs in the morning, sitting at our table at dinner or sleeping under our roof, we think about how great a time she's having at college and feel all better.
___Molly, Lindsay's little sister, has helped us tremendously. She's fun and funny, and she's had absolutely no trouble adjusting to taking sole possession of the upstairs bathroom. She's having a great 10th grade year, and her enthusiasm is infectious.
___Still, we all could hardly wait for Lindsay to come home for her first visit. Don't tell anybody, but I counted down the days to her arrival, just like waiting for Christmas.
___Wouldn't you know it? That Friday afternoon commute was one of the slowest of the year. Wrecks and traffic tie-ups every which way. Seemed like I'd never get home.
___But it was worth the wait to hug my "baby" again. We started catching up on Lindsay's life at dinner and during the drive over to the football game. We learned about new friends, and professors, and hard and easy classes, and campus activities, and churches, and cafeteria food. Jo and I were as starved for information as Lindsay was starved for good vegetables.
___At the ballgame--where we cheered for the Lewisville Farmerettes drill team, the "Band that Marches with Pride" and, of course, the football team--Lindsay learned something about her mom and dad. Turns out, she hadn't attended a ballgame with us in years. All through high school, she sat down there with the Farmerettes.
___The first time the action got tense and I screamed like a banshee, Lindsay turned to her mother. "Does he do this all the time?" she asked with her eyes. Then she didn't know what to do when her mom started screaming too. Welcome to the adult section, college girl!
___Saturday was a blur, and then we had church and lunch on Sunday. Too soon, I helped Lindsay load the car trunk, gave her a hug and a kiss, and waved goodbye.
___Life is precious, and children are a gift from God. Can't top that for a birthday present.
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