University of Peace

Harding University was almost everything that I had dreamed -- especially my freshman year. The campus was beautiful, the students were friendly, and going to church was phenomenal. Religious life included chapel everyday, Bible class three times a week, and the best preaching I had ever heard (Jim Woodroof).

Peace is the absence of conflict. There was no conflict at Harding. Along as you obeyed the rules, life could be very pleasant.

Terry, my sister, was also at Harding. We were together only a few times the previous year, so it was good to see her almost daily. If there was one person in life that I was attached to, it was Terry. She was there when my birth father died, when my birth mother abandoned us, when our aunt was out of control and eventually died, and when we "became" Barnetts. Our relationship wasn't always "Donnie and Marie," but it was something I could count on.

My sophomore year, Terry went back to Ft. Worth, married, and we were no longer together. Out of all of my years in college, this was my toughest year (I was also taking Greek). I didn't realize it until years later, but Terry was my only attachment for my entire life. This is something that I didn't acknowledged until much later in my life.