Gotta Start Somewhere

In the summer of 1978 I was attending summer school at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. LaDonna and I were living in Linn, MO at the time and both of us were teaching school, me at Linn R-2 and LaDonna at the local Catholic School. Sometime near the end of June we found out that we might be expecting our first child. At that time there were no home pregnanacy tests, etc. So one day on my drive to summer school I carried and delivered a urine specimen to a medical lab in Jefferson City. Needless to say I felt a little awkward: "No Officer, I haven't been drinking,". I delivered it to the Lab and by the time I returned home that afternoon I found out that we were indeed parents to be.
As prospective parents of the first grandchild on both sides of the family we decided not to announce our news right away and be "fussed over" for a lengthy amount of time. We decided to announce our news on LaDonna's birthday, Aug. 19, when we met my parents for a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.
Early in August LaDonna and I served as Counselors at Dixon Baptist Association Youth Camp. Our emphasis for the week was the youth musical "Tell It Like It Is". I was the music director and we had a pretty good choir of about 30, with some drama and a musical combo of piano, guitar and drums. It was a great week, a fun performance and a good crowd attended, especially being out in the middle of nowhere.
We returned home to Linn on friday night and on Saturday my dad called to say that Mom had gone to Hot Springs, Arkansas to check on her mom (Grandma Bear). Grandma had gone to visit my aunt Anita in Hot Springs and was taken to the hospital for an anurism. Dad invited us to the annual Central Bank picnic that was being held at the Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday. We visited a little and I said that after a week of youth camp we would probably stay home and rest. We would see them next Saturday in Lebanon to go to the baseball game. On Sunday afternoon I was at a meeting at Church when LaDonna called, told Pastor Richard Hurtgen, who told me that my Dad had died. To make a long story short, we went to Lebanon, family, visitation, funeral, etc. On Saturday we told my Mom we were expecting , she would soon be a grandma and went to St. Louis for the baseball game.
The expectation of a grandchild gave mom something to look forward to and that was good. What made it even better is the fact Jennifer Suzanne Campbell was born March 1. (My moms birthday is March 5) My mom and dad always wanted a girl but had five boys, so mom got a grandaughter. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" Romans 8:28
-30-