This is for Eileen

Reid and I graduated from Amarillo High School in 1954. Our class has had a reunion every five years since that time. I went to a few of the early reunions then moved to El Paso and Beaumont, then to Tulsa, and they lost me. They didn't find me again until 1994. When I went back to that reunion, it was like I'd never left those people. The people I didn't run around with in high school were like old friends. All the "things" that separated us in the 50s no longer existed. I went to another one in 1999 and saw Reid for the first time since we graduated. He and Carol had lived all over the world and hadn't been back to a reunion in years--maybe ever.
Reid and I were married in 2003 and we attended the 50th reunion in 1954.

Two springs ago we were invited to the lake home (along with two other couples) of David and Eileen Kent. They went together in high school and got married during college. David was a tennis coach and coached Texas A & M teams to many championships. Eileen is a Bible teacher and has held Bible classes for coaches wives everywhere they've lived. They have three great kids, one who is the minister of a church.

They have a house on Lake Livingston and we were honored to be a guest there for two years. No one is as gracious a hostess as Eileen, and David is always a hoot. We were looking forward to another Kamp Kent meeting this spring. At the end of last year's meeting, we promised to pray for each other all year so we could meet again this year.

We couldn't believe it when we heard that Eileen had colon and liver cancer. She's been under some intensive chemo treatment that has done nothing toward killing the cancer. Her doctors are giving her a more aggressive treatment to try to save her life. Eileen has great faith, but in situations like this, we all need someone else's faith to bring us through.

As we get older and see more and more of our old friends (and some new ones) being stricken with illnesses, we can't help but wonder what is the cause. Is it the food we eat? Eileen took such good care of her health and tried to eat wholesome food. Is it the air we breathe? Is it built into our genes?

This next October we will be attending another reunion in Amarillo--this one for all the classes who have passed their 50th reunion. We will go and we pray Eileen will be there, healthy and whole. That's why I'm writing this. I'm hoping you will add her to your prayer list. And I'm praying you and the ones you love will not have to face anything like this in your life. Thanks.