A Sad but Defining Moment

As I move forward I think it is important to add an event that took place as it defines a time in my life that shaped me and the friends around me into different people. This event brought us closer together and one day that closeness would come back to benefit me in a very difficult journey I would take. But I would not take it alone.

It was early in our senior year, Tuesday November 8,1983 to be exact, and we were full of life. This was OUR year. The Class of 84 had arrived to their final year and we were ready to have a full year of memories and excitement. We had Homecoming, ditch day, Prom and so much more. We were sharing our senior pictures, planning big events and of course many of us were making payments towards the big trip to Hawaii in June.

Like the day of the Challenger disaster and 911 I still remember where I was when I got the news. I was sitting in PE class with classmates. Eric Spiess and I were chatting and we were doing more goofing off then PE. Chicken Legs (Coach Francis) was still taking roll and it was going to be a great day.

That’s when a rumor came through the group that something had happened to one of our classmates. We were not sure the information was correct so we held our breath until we knew for sure. Then we heard it was true, one of our own classmates had been killed that morning in a car accident. Silence filled the gym and all that could be heard was silent sobs from classmates.

Susan Moody was only a young girl that morning when she was on her way to be with us at school. Coming to share her senior pictures, her sweet giggles and her well thought out ideas. Susan was such a beautiful girl and such a warm person. She never had a mean thing to say and she was kind to everyone.

The week was a blur. We cried a lot, told lots of stories, read her poems and most of all we hugged each other. Later, we would all attend her service at the Red Church and then head back to our lives of living like the kids we were. We would regain focus on school work, jobs and family but we would also change a bit in who we were.

Standing outside the church I saw a difference in many people that day. As we moved forward we were still us, meaning the red necks were still red necks, the music kids were still music kids and the jocks still jocks. But we were different. It was as if all those cliques no longer divided us but actually made us closer and more understanding to each other’s ideas and beliefs. In a way we were still those groups but we had come to realize we were those groups inside a family or a “Pride”. I guess that is why we were Wildcats.

Now, the things that we thought made others different in a strange way actually came to light showing us that they made us different in a good way. We all tried to attend not only sporting events but now we made a point of attending the band concert or the school play. Why not? After all this was a part of US. This needed cheering on. I can’t tell you the number of times I would now stop to talk to Schroeder as he played the piano, or I would visit with Kelly after her volleyball work out. People actually told me they listened to my radio show.

As the year progressed we knew that Susan could not be forgotten so a group of us (Lori Kleinert, Susan Kerner and I) decided to build in bench in front of the school. Mr. Southard our Leadership Adviser approved of our plan but told us we needed to get approval from all levels of the school and we would need to raise the funds ourselves. The plan was approved in a hurry and we set up a table at lunch to raise the money and our school really stepped up as we raised the money in less than a week.

   

We worked hard, did major digging and poured concrete. We got a plaque set into the bench that said Susan’s name and we had the newspaper do an article. In no time our classmates were sitting on Susan’s bench.

For years to come that bench was used by so many students and most probably did not know who Susan was but we do and that is why I did not want to leave her out of “My Journey”. You see the spirit that was shown by that class carried well into the future. It was not the kind of “Oh let me open the door for you” change but real change. It was after we left school continuing to help our classmates.  Helping a classmate who was in an accident by doing a benefit dinner, helping a classmate years later that was fighting cancer and standing next to a classmate as they lost a parent, sibling or child.

God carries us through hard times even when we do not realize it. To often we say" I don't see God, I don't hear God." That is because we are not looking or listening close enough. God can be seen in the care we take for each other when someone is down, he can be seen when a person hugs someone to give comfort and he is seen when we lend a hand. God is heard in a word of encouragement, a whisper of hope and a simple "I love you" or "call me if you need anything."

1 John 4:12

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

In the spring of 1999 I would come face to face with a major mountain in my life and within minutes there were classmates lending a hand. Blessing my family in ways that can never be repaid and holding my hand and Krishna’s hand as we made decisions, fought life’s challenges and learned to walk again. 

The amazing part is that these friends do not know the scope of their impact. They do not know how deep they reached inside of me and they do not know the blessings they gave me. They will now. In just a few more days I will tell you that story and for the first time they will read how they saved me and how they changed my life and my family’s life. A story they have never heard. Now they will and so will you as you continue with me on “My Journey”.

I do not understand
Why people start wars
Why men beat their wives
Why people feel the need
to drink and drive.
What I don't understand most
is suicide.
Why people take their life
without taking into consideration
the emotions of the ones who really
love them.
What I do understand is love.
How it can make you feel so down,
but yet pick you up at the same time.
I suppose love is confusing,
but it is the most secure, yet
the most intense feeling there is.

By: Susan Moody

Thank you Lori Kleinert for your love and support on this BLOG.