Original Young Adult

As I get ready to go to Theology on Tap tonight, I can't help but reflect on one of my "first" Catholic Young Adult (YA) friends.

It happened during my first year of living in Harrisburg, back in 2003, when one Sunday night, I attended the "last chance" mass at Holy Name of Jesus Church.  Since I was late, I stood in the back and admit I was more than distracted by the comings and goings of other latecomers to mass.

One of the couples who came in caught my eye as they whizzed by me to take a seat in the pew.  I *thought* I saw the wife sign, "It's fine, it doesn't matter" to her husband.  Thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, I wondered if I should stay after mass and approach them to see if she knew sign language.  I admit that I didn't pay as close attention to the readings and gospel as I should have that night as I wondered what the story of this couple was.  Were they D/deaf?  Where were they from and did they go to my church too?  I had never seen them before but a) it was a big church and b) I usually went on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings.

So, I decided to introduce myself to the couple after mass.  Boy, am I glad I did!  Karen and her husband, Todd, were awesome!  They were young, newly married, and only lived a few minutes from my brother's girlfriend's family (did you follow that one?!).  Karen also had hearing loss, wore hearing aids, and was a bubbly beautiful girl who welcomed me into her social circle with open arms.  It also turns out that she had gone to Kutztown, which was where I was soon starting my Master's program that summer.  Ironically, she had also dated a boy from my hometown in college (who happened to graduate with my older brother and who's little brother went to school with my twin and me).  Such a small world! 

It turns out that the reason Karen said, "It doesn't matter, it's fine" was because her husband had asked her if they should sit toward the front since she didn't have her hearing aids with her.  I think she said she ended up finding them in her jacket pocket..hehe.  My twin also knew of Karen since they both worked in downtown Harrisburg.

I began to go out weekly (or was it monthly?) with Karen and her friends, some of whom used sign language so I was thrilled to be able to practice my signing skills with my new friends.  Over the years, I lost touch with her group but through Facebook and yearly Christmas cards, I've been able to keep up with Karen and Todd's growing family as they got a dog and had 2 beautiful children.



My friends and I bumped into Karen (black feather boa) and Kris (rose dress) at my first Strawberry Ball in 2004 at the Zembo Shrine...what fun we had that night!

6 years later, Karen helped to see me off at my farewell to PA when I started school in NC the next month!

Fast forward to last week when I was visiting with another dear friend, Lauren.  Lauren shared with me that her husband was now working in Harrisburg and had just started his second week.  The wheels started to turn and I wondered if Trevor and Karen worked together now that he was in Hbg.  Sure enough, they do work together (sort of)...what are the odds?!  I sure hope Lauren and Karen become friends as they are both awesome and have connections via deaf education!!

I love Trevor and Lauren, or Barbie and Ken, as I like to call them.  You can see why by looking at this beautiful and fabulous couple in this picture! 

So, it's funny to look back and see that my first exposure to making friends with other Young Adults within the Catholic Church (before the Young Adult groups/retreats/Theology on Taps) is a friendship I still cherish today.  Nowadays, I don't get to see Karen nearly enough but love how we can still text and Facebook now and then and still be a part of each other's lives.  Who knows, maybe someday Karen and I will run into each other at a future Theology on Tap...or perhaps another last chance mass?  ;-)