The Family Finds Out

November 1971

I am the second oldest of three brothers and three sisters. Until I left home my younger brothers and sisters looked up to me for two things in particular:

1. Music - I and my friends usually a step ahead of the rest of our grade for what was good. I listened to a lot of bands before they were big, such as Chicago, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Mountain, Steve Miller Band, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin, Alice Cooper, and others. Other bands were never big, but were interesting - Bloodwyn Pig, It's a Beautiful Day, D.O.A and the like. My younger brothers and sisters liked what I got.

Marc (my older brother) was into Folk music which didn't spark much interest in me or the others, but he did introduce me to Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel's last album.

2. I was also the model of what not to do with the rest of the kids. They looked at me and decided to take more careful routes to doing things. They still got in trouble, but learned some valuable lessons in how to avoid some of the nastier stuff.

All in all though, we were and still are a close family.

The first night I called home after my conversion, was just after a Wednesday night Bible Study at the house next door to South Side Assemblies of God. I called from there because there was only one phone on the ship. I called collect.

I had planned on keeping my experience with God a secret until I got home on leave (vacation), but my plan didn't work out so well. The first thing my dad said as he answered the phone, "Where are you?" To which I answered, "I'm at church." My dad was audibly bewildered. "What are you doing at a church?" Although I don't remember the rest of our conversation, I do remember my sister Cindy (one year younger than me) getting on the phone, "Ted, what are you doing at a church? Do you know where I'm going right now?" "No," I responded. "I'm going with a friend to a Bible Study."

When I left church in 7th grade it was because Cindy wanted to skip Mass with me...we did and neither one of us went much more. Out of all my syblings I was closest to Cindy. During our High School we grew very close: I dated some of her friends, she dated some of mine; we went to parties together and we shared our struggles, dating advice and triumphs with each other.

The night I called from Jacksonville was her first night of regularly participating in a Bible Study.