Garry R. Kennedy

I met Loreen in the seventh grade when we moved from Riverdale to Clovis, California.  Clovis in 1961 was a small town with only a population of around ten thousand people. Like me, Loreen also had a twin brother.  Loreen was a pretty girl, outgoing, who was very easy to like.  She was always nice to me in elementary and high school.  I don’t remember having any bad experiences with her during those years.  In our senior year of high school Loreen became the head cheerleader.  She was visibly present at all the football and basketball games, leading, shouting, and encouraging her fellow students to support the team.  She was very popular and a person everyone thought would do well in life.

Loreen was going to someday marry a young man we all met in high school.  His name was Rod and he was a year older than us.  Rod became friends also with my twin brother Larry, and several of our other friends including Loreen’s brother.  Rod was also good looking, a real charmer and liked by just about everyone.  However, he had a bit of a wild side to him.  After he graduated from high school he and over a dozen other guys got into stealing cars, driving them out into the country, stripping them of their parts for resale, and then burning the vehicle.  The money was little and I think it was mostly spent on beer.  After stealing a large number of cars they knew that the police suspected them and an arrest would be imminent.  After all, just about everyone their age in town knew who was doing it and were talking about it.  Once Rod asked me if I wanted to go with them and act as a lookout.  I was still in high school, but thank God I was smart enough to decline his invitation.  They were all soon arrested and sent to prison or allowed to enlist into the U.S. Army.  This was during the mid-sixties when the Viet Nam war was heating up.  Rod was sent to prison I believe for a total of eighteen months.

After Rod got out of prison and I had graduated from Clovis high school, several of us were out one day cruising in two cars when another car with five guys and a girl got into a verbal shouting match with us.  Someone threw out a challenge so we pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant while the other car only pulled in only a short distance from the street.  I remember I didn’t want to do this but felt I had no other option left.  Rod quickly exited our car and starting walking towards the other car.  Then a tall young man stepped outside of the driver’s side of the other car with a long twelve gage shot gun and pulled back the handle to enter a shell into the chamber.  It sounded hollow to me like there was no shell in it, nevertheless one couldn’t be sure.  Rod never missed a step while yelling at the fool, “Mother f-er if you’re going to use that you better use it now or I’m going to stick it up your ass.”   The guy’s face went completely white with fear as he froze by his car door.  Knowing Rod was on parole and many people were watching all of this in broad daylight, I quickly got between him and the scared stiff idiot.  The guy was probably only trying to impress the young girl sitting in the middle of the front seat.  His buddies never made any attempt to even get out of their car.  Rod let the guy sink back into his car to escape while his stupid girlfriend attempted to flip us off with her middle finger in defiance.  The driver immediately slapped down the foolish girl’s hand as he quickly sped them away.

A short time after Rod was released from prison he started dating Loreen.  Within in a year or so they got married.  They quickly purchased a house and I remember going to a party there once where the alcohol was plentiful.  As I think back now this may have been the time when I first started to associate Loreen with drinking. When we were growing up I didn’t know it but both of her parents were heavy drinkers.  Rod and Loreen’s marriage didn’t last long and they soon got divorced.  I didn’t see much of Loreen for a number of years.  I had heard that she had gotten remarried and lived in the mountains at Mariposa.  She had some children and worked in a bar serving drinks.  After a couple of decades had passed I heard from others that she had gotten divorced again.

As we have gotten older my high school classmates of 67’ have started to have a class reunion every five years, and our old high school has an “all class” reunion every ten years.  At one of our “all class” Clovis reunions I remember seeing Loreen again, and to be honest I thought she might have aids.  She was so small and skinny, nothing like the young beautiful girl I had known.  I remember after sharing pleasantries with her that I spoke to her about my past drinking problems and I expressed my concern about her also having a heavy drinking problem.  Unfortunately at that time, she like others around us was already in a party mode and had been drinking therefore I got the impression that my words wouldn’t be taken seriously.  Nevertheless, because of our past friendship and my new walk with the Lord I really did want to help her, if possible.  However, I later heard that she continued to drink even more heavily than before.

It was at another class reunion that I next saw Loreen.  It was obvious to me that her lifestyle hadn’t changed and I heard she was now homeless too.  The night of the reunion she drank and partied the night away.  She was having a good time.  Early the next morning I received a phone call from her that her brother Lloyd’s car had been left downtown and she wanted to know if I could pick her up to go get it.  I’m not positive, but I think Lloyd had been arrested for driving under the influence the night before.  Because it was so early I didn’t want to do it at the time and also because Loreen sounded like she was still under the influence of alcohol.  I was to find out that she was under the influence all right, but it wasn’t just with alcohol.  I remember her getting angry with me as I tried to reason with her.  Then I asked her if I could pray for her.  I think she said yes so I started to pray, but immediately I became concerned by what I heard coming from the other end of the phone line.  Loreen was making loud noises like she was trying to cough something up but it was also choking her.  Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, but I quickly recognized that another entity was involved.  I believe that as I was praying for Loreen a demon was making it presence known as it was being cast out of her.  I didn’t know how to handle the situation so I just started praying in the spirit.  It sounded like Loreen dropped the phone and was moving around a room trying to clear her throat while gasping for air.  I suspected she was calling me from a motel room but I had no way of knowing.  After a minute or two it sounded like she was lying down near the phone and was moaning but no longer chocking.  I called out her name several times but she never picked up the phone to answer me.  I continued to pray for her for a short time and not knowing what else to do for her I disconnected the call.  I hoped that she would get some sleep and call me back as I didn’t know how to contact her, but she never did.

The next time I remember seeing Loreen again was at another ‘all class’ Clovis high school reunion’ five years later.  At the Friday night kickoff to the weekend event the various classes were seating in the bleachers at the football stadium located at the new Clovis high school.  After some events finished on the football field she came up to talk to me and a friend.  After saying “hi” I stepped up one row above them while they continued to talk privately.  I wasn’t sure where Loreen was now in her spiritual walk so I started to pray quietly in the spirit for her.  I’m sure no one could hear me as I was praying in a whisper with my eyes wide open while trying to look normal as possible.  In addition, many other people were also involved in loud conversations surrounding us.  I was looking down towards Loreen when without lifting or moving her head and in the middle of her conversation with my friend, her eyes looked straight up to mine and she said, “Garry, leave me alone!”  Then just as quickly her eyes returned contact to my friend’s eyes until she finished her conversation with him and she left.  I was shaken by this unnoticed happening that my friend hadn’t even picked up on.  I wasn’t sure how to process it.  Was she still under the influence of some unknown entity or was my imagination working overtime?  Whatever was going on, it spooked me!

The next day after a reunion parade through downtown Clovis our reunion committee had set up some tables at the old high school for people to pick up tickets to that night’s events or to just visit.  Loreen and her sister Phyllis came by to see me.  In private Loreen informed me that she didn’t have any money but she would still like to come to the events.  I told her that would be no problem and the class would be glad to pay her way.  However, I told her that I didn’t want her coming to the get-together and getting drunk.  She said she wouldn’t and I asked her if she would like me to pray for her.  She sternly informed me that no, she didn’t want me to pray for her.  This concerned me, but I didn’t push the issue nor did I ask her what had happened to her the last time we talked on the phone.  I suspected this was why she didn’t want any more prayer from me.

I got a chance to talk to her sister Phyllis later that day and I asked her about Loreen’s condition and if she was seeking any help.  She said Loreen was now living with her.  This was good news, but I expressed my concern with her about Loreen’s spiritual condition, yet I didn’t bring up my experience with Loreen and the telephone prayer.  What was I supposed to say?  Hey, I think you sister may be possessed or at the least under some kind of demonic oppression.  She informed me that Loreen had been going to some church group meetings with a lady from the church.  I found this to be good news and didn’t pursue any more information from her.  Loreen came to our reunion that night and didn’t get drunk nor behave in manner that was offensive.  It was a pleasure to have her there and to see her enjoying herself with some old school mates.

A couple of years later Lloyd, Loreen’s twin brother and my friend passed away.  Lloyd, like most of us from the old neighborhood, drank way too much alcohol and smoked too many cigarettes over the years.  I heard he was on an oxygen tank because he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs without it.  I called him and told him I would be praying for him.  He said thanks and that he could use all the prayers he could get.  One unfortunate day his son found him dead at home.  It was very tragic to see him die this way.  I saw Loreen at the funeral but didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her.

Prior to our latest class of 67’ reunion Loreen was invited to ride with us in the Clovis Rodeo parade to publicize the upcoming reunion.  She showed up early in the morning with a large soda cup, which I later discovered was beer and not any type of soda at all.  Nevertheless, she was full of fun that morning when leading her other classmates in shouting to the several thousand people lining the parade route. We were proud graduates of Clovis High.  We all went to lunch afterwards and had a good time.  Loreen later came to the reunion gathering for the class of 67’, controlled her drinking and was a pleasure to be around that night.

I didn’t see Loreen after the reunion and a couple of years quickly passed.  She was always there in the back of my mind and I felt that I should call her to see how she was doing.  I knew that she was still living with her sister and working part time.  I prayed that things were now going better in her life.  Then one day in August of 2009 her sister called me to inform me that Loreen had passed away unexpectedly.  She had gone in to have her teeth pulled for dentures.  Her teeth were in a bad state and I was informed she wanted to have a nice smile for her grandchildren.  Unfortunately, an infection set in and she was hospitalized when further complications arose.  Shortly thereafter she passed away.  I felt guilty for not staying in touch with her and it is something that I will always regret.  I don’t know if I could have made any difference in her decisions to drink or her lifestyle but I do know the Lord could have.  Had I missed an opportunity to help her.  God forgive me if I had.

My own struggle with alcoholism helped me to relate to Loreen, her twin brother Lloyd, my twin brother Larry, plus other friends from high school who also drank and/or used too many drugs.  A lot of these people have passed away in the last couple of years, way before their time.  They were all good people who made bad decisions.  The main character, Thomas, in my novel the “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” also has a very serious drinking problem.  His drinking is especially damaging to his relationships with his mother, wife, and son.  He has to decide if he wants to be a blessing to his family or a curse.  What kind of legacy will he leave them?  The story reveals how the Lord is the only way for people like him, and me, to conquer demonic traps set by the devil.  Beware my friend that you don’t fall into the devil’s trap of alcoholism or substance abuse.  Sin always starts out as fun but ends up in personal tragedy, not only for you, but also for everyone who loves you.  If you have already fallen deep into the sin of alcoholism it is not too late to change.  Call upon Jesus, repent, and He will reveal to you the path out to eternal salvation.

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“Relationships cause pain,” commented Thomas, “even if they are free.”

“Yes,” answered the king while catching his breath. “Anytime you open yourself up to another person, it can result in pain.  But, there is faith to be gained in overcoming the pain, if you believe in the relationship. You have a family, and you are the shepherd of your family.  Are the relationships with your family worth getting through the pain?  Tell me, are you being a good shepherd to your family?  Do you give them comfort and joy?  Are you there for them?  Can you get past your pain for them, even if you can’t do it for yourself?”

Thomas remained silent.  He knew the answers to the questions.  However, he didn’t want to acknowledge the committment and pain that relationships require to the king, or to himself.

“You know a lie will destroy a relationship.  Relationships cannot exist in a lie, because a lie distorts the truth of who you are.  If a person does not really know who you are, then they are dealing with an untruth, not you.  A relationship can only survive if it is based upon the truth. The sheperd is the truth.  Do you share this truth with your family?  Do they really know who you are, or are you lying to them about you, too?” asked the king.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Relationship, Chapter 7, page 106.