Lauren Ricks (16:01)
And I was like, oh, my gosh. You know, I was dating someone outside of high school that was way too old for me. I was 17 years old. He was, I think, 22. I mean, crazy, right? And I'm like, hey, Ken. So I'm telling you guys the story. So you know how Emily came along, right? So I remember I said, hey, do you think one of your friends can ask me to prom? Because, you know, so and so is too old to take me, but I don't want to miss senior prom. And then right away, your dad was like, well, I'll take you. And I was walking down to the library with a friend, and my friend was hyping me up. She's like, lauren, you're going with David prom. And I was like, well, yeah, just as friends. And then, you know, I was like, oh, that is kind of cool. You know, and then, yeah, I saw your dad out that night, actually, and he just, like, took authority and gave me a kiss. Was like, I'm so glad you're here. And I'm like, well, I guess I'm gonna break up with so and so now. And I remember calling that guy. And, like, I like, so and so. And I'm sorry, but I can't see you anymore. And that's how me and your dad started. So I would say we probably started dating in March of my senior year. And Emily, Me and David had Emily. And we're both very young. I found out in October after we graduated. I was 18 years old and so was David, that I was pregnant with Emily. And of course, like, when you sit down, like, we thought of every option. And in my heart, I always knew, like, I need to have her, you know? And so I ended up having you. August 6th of 2001. I graduated in 2000, so I was 18 years old. And I turned 19 when? In October. So it was officially 18 when I had Emily, but out of school and I got pregnant with you. Thank goodness. But with that said, I always tell Emily, and she knows this, that she's my angel. Because I was a free spirit. I wanted to go live at the coast. I wanted to be in masseuse. I would sleep on the beach if I had to. Like, that was my plan. I wasn't gonna go to college anything. And while I was actually in labor with Emily, that's how I knew I wanna be a labor and delivery nurse. I had such a great experience with the nurse. And I had a really hard time having you. They almost took me in emergency cesarean section. You had a nuchal cord, so the cord was around your neck. This is tmi. I know, but they had to cut me front to back and vacuum you out. I mean, it was really scary for me. You were a big kid. You were 8 pounds, 10 ounces. I'll never forget that day. So with me saying that, like, it was very traumatic. I pushed over three hours and I thought, I want to be a nurse and be there for someone. Because I just was picking an occupation. So when I signed up for cos, which is a college here where we live, I was like, I'll be a teacher. Because, you know, everyone, you just think you want to be a teacher. You don't really know. And my parents never asked me about college ever. Like, well, what do you want to do? I mean, it was nothing, nada. My brother's the one that was like, if you don't go sign up for some classes, you're gonna be a big loser. Like, I'm like, okay, yeah. So because of my brother, the day before college start at junior college, I started classes because of my brother. So big, you know, shout out to him for that because he was trying to help me and pretty crazy. He was the only one in my family that asked, like, are you Enrolled in classes. Like, just nuts. But anyhow, so fast forward. Me and your dad got married, and we struggled a lot. We didn't have money. I was going to nursing school. Your dad, I will always praise him for this, worked so hard. And I truly believe we both tried our best. And through that time, even when we first started dating, like, your dad loved Jesus and so did I. But we didn't have, like, a true relationship with Jesus. I think that it's like, oh, I love Jesus. I love going to church. I love. Like, we used to. Like, Emily would be involved. I would take her to Wednesday night youth group. You would do. Because I liked doing that when I was a kid. I would go with my. My good friends from, you know, junior high. We would go and do that, and I just loved it. And then, you know, we would go. We were in a very small church, and it was like, basically. The singing trailer. Yeah. Yeah. But I loved it. And we would get together on Wednesday nights for prayer group, and then Sundays, very small community of people. And I loved it. And your dad wants to stop going. And then I feel like that was where it was a big turn for me. And I changed a lot because I got out of church and we didn't really get plugged in like we should have, but so we kind of were just spotty everywhere with our relationship with Jesus. It was like we always would do things, but it wasn't consistent.
