As I was dozing in an out this afternoon reading a socio-rhetorical commentary of the epistle to the Hebrews, one of my old roommates called with the news of a new baby on the way for he and his wife. This now marks the fourth marriage and third child to be produced by the original Club Belknap boys (who I consider to be Derek, Sean, Garrett, Ryan, and me). So far Garrett and Ryan have managed to avoid off-springing to this point. And I have managed to avoid both marrying and off-springing (the only one to accomplish both feats). Although the five of us don't really keep in regular contact, it has been interesting to follow the life progression of each one of us. The original Club Belknap was formed in the summer of 2000 in Norman by Sean and Garrett, with Derek (the one who called) and I signing on only weeks after and taking over the master bedroom. Derek and I would share a single bedroom for 3 and a half years and enjoy every minute of it (even when firecrackers would come rolling under the door into the bathroom). Derek and I would eventually oversee two generations of Club Belknap, as Sean and Garrett would move on and be replaced by Ryan and eventually Bob. Ryan has now been replaced by Steven, and Derek and I by Daniel. I think Caleb now lives there too. The original duplex on Belknap Street also got replaced by the double-sized apartment on Dewey Ave, and Derek and I were actually the last ones to hang on to the Club Belknap name. But the spirit still stands, as Bob has constructed in the apatment an homage to who he considers to be the "founding fathers" - Derek, Ryan, and me. Derek and I consider the historical record to go back a little farter but hey, what the heck. A gigantic American flag made of over 1200 Dr. Pepper cans also adorns an entire wall of the living room as does newly-installed stadium seating and a 5000-inch big screen TV. Things were a little more modest in Derek and I's day. We just had Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce and the live version of COPS outside our window to keep us entertained.

But I digress. Sean was already engaged when we moved in with him, so that was a done deal. Derek was essentially a married man second semester of our Freshman year when he and Brooke stopped hating each other and started holding hands. Since then I have been his groomsman and now she's pregnant. Sophomore year the dynamic duo of Lori and Meghan made their appearance in the Outreach Center, which created a fun little game of romantic ping pong between them and the Hollingsworth brothers until it all settled out with Meghan married to Garrett and Lori married to Cameron. (That's an interesting story of two best friends since they were babies actually ending up with the same last names). Garrett and Meghan now live in Abilene, but I don't see them much. Then we took and trip to Mexico in the spring of 2002 with the campus ministry from Midwestern State University and there was a pretty wavy-haired girl named Sherry that Ryan couldn't get away from. After 10,000 hours of phone calls and once-a-day letters while he and I were in Ukraine that summer, they decided they would like to do this forever and now they are hitched and he is campus minister at MSU in Wichita Falls. Speaking of Ukraine, that's where I first realized just how beautiful this energetic blonde-haired girl named Jessica was, and I was lucky enough for her, who had never considered dating anyone, to like me back. It was a wonderful time of life, but after after almost four years of trying, it ultimately wouldn't work out. So, I actually almost would have joined the ranks of the hitched, but God has had other plans in mind.

The days of Club Belknap were really just a frame for an entire period of life that was an amazing adventure that I wouldn't trade for anything else. But the adventures didn't stop there and they are long from over. I hope they never stop, and, indeed, I figure it is only up to me to stop them. So, Derek, thanks for calling and I wish you and Brooke the best (Brooke pregnant - Lord help you, brother). For anyone reading this, whether you are in college or not, make the best of your days right now so that you can look back on them with awe.