COLLEGE BOUND

On New Years day Doug Walker (my cousin) and I got up early to take off on a 620 mile road trip to Branson, Missouri. Though Branson is known as a popular Midwest resort and entertainment destination we were headed there to deliver Erve Joseph to college. Erve who grew up at Canaan Christian Community in Haiti has been living here in Columbia City, Indiana the last 1 1/2 years with the Walker family. They along with some others took the initiative to get Erve accepted into Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, In. where he has completed four semesters of study.

Erve had become a part of the Walker family over the last 18 months, an older brother to Luke and Garrett their sons and a close friend to Doug and his wife Amber. He attended birthday parties, funerals, athletic events, church, Christmas, Thanksgiving, school and community events with the Walker clan . There was of course sadness and tears as we pulled out of the driveway and headed West from the the place Erve had called home and the people he considered family. Ten and half hours later we pulled off Tory Creek Road and headed up the lane to the home of Marcia and Wayne Hlavacek who along with Paul and Jane Elmore will be overseeing Erve as he continues his education at College of the Ozarks the next few years. He will be living on campus and will have a room mate from San Diego, California. Erve though excited was of course somewhat nervous about this new phase of his life and was hoping we could hang around a few more days and see him get moved into his dorm. It was was good that Erve and I both knew the Hlavacek's and Doug felt better after getting to meet them and spend the night in their home. When we left we knew we had left him in the good hands of the Hlavacek's and Elmore's who have put their own five boys through college already. We are making plans to return later this Spring to visit everyone. In God's love, steve