When Jennie learned of Laura’s pregnancy late-summer of 2024, she began a project, a labor of love: a blanket. Not knowing the sex of the child in those early weeks, she bought yarn in colors Laura likes – light green, teal, and white. Unbeknownst to Laura, Jennie worked on the blanket until we received word of the miscarriage, then set it aside. 

I stood before my fledgling congregation that December and with as much of a straight face as I could muster told them I was planning a Christmas pageant to beat all Christmas pageants, a gala production that would put our church on the map and stake our claim to being one of the prominent, publicity-garnering, buzzworthy megachurches of the Valley of the Sun. I proudly announced The Coolwater Xn Church Xmas Xtravaganza. I threw the Xs in to catch people’s attention. Catchy marketing hook, huh? It was all about drawing a crowd (in baby Jesus’ name, of course). 

By the time the choir concluded our final rehearsal, Jennie was all business. Which Dick saw as a perfect opportunity for an innocent prank. At the end of the rehearsal, Jennie went into detail about the appropriate dress for the concert. I don’t remember the women’s instructions, but the men’s attire was to be as follows: “Black pants. Black shoes. White shirt. Dark tie.” She went through the list a couple times to make sure we were listening: “Black, black, white, dark.”