Kenny Rogers Concert (By Lori)

Kenny Rogers was a singer who had been popular back when I was a little girl.  He disappeared for a while and you really didn’t hear anything from him or about him for several years.  Then, during my late teens/early twenties his career came roaring back with a string of hits like, “Lady” and “She Believes in Me”.  He was huge!  And he was coming to a town near us (Louisville, KY)!  We were living in military housing on Fort Knox (5364-G Kelly, to be exact) and Larry was serving a tour of duty in Korea.  It’s terrible (but true) to say that with Larry gone, we were free to enjoy going places and doing things – things like going to a Kenny Rogers concert!

I even had a couple of friends who went along.  Here we are, dolled up and ready to go (left-to-right:  Kim Wofford, me, Lara, and Cindy Caldera).

If this isn’t enough to amaze you, believe it or not, Dee Dee went to the concert with us (yes, there she is, standing next to Kim):

We had a great time!  We shouted, we clapped, we stood up, and generally acted unruly (but in a good way).  We stopped at White Castle, an area favorite, to have hamburgers on the way home.

I have to mention my good friend Kim, especially:

She was really my best friend and always had a kind word to encourage me, even when I had messed things up quite a bit in my life.  She had an infectious laugh and I still love talking to her today -- and laughing...a lot.  We had lost contact for a few years, but Alan was able to use Facebook to help me find her.  I really had not had any interest in Facebook before that, but after finding Kim living in an area where I would have never thought to look for her, I had to admit there might be something to it.

I was not only friends with Kim, but also with Kim’s mother, Bertha:

Not only did I see Bertha every Sunday at church, she was always available to chat whenever I needed  someone to talk to.  She also was there on a very special day in my life.  Mandy’s father chose not to be there when I was in the hospital giving birth, so our Relief Society President, Carol Seipert, went in with me for a while and was my “coach”.  Bertha knew that Dee Dee would be worried to death out in the waiting room, so she went and sat with Mom for a good part of the day and was Mom’s “coach”.  Since Mandy was born on Thanksgiving Day, I can never do justice in telling what it meant to us that these ladies would give up part of their holiday with their families to be there for us.  Unfortunately, I learned that Bertha passed away a year or two before Kim and I reconnected, but she still lives in my heart and memory.