The flowers were a very nice touch. They greeted you from the kitchen counter just as you got home, and were followed by a romantic dinner, candlelight conversation and a quiet evening at home. It was a gift from your spouse, who often has many surprises for you. But, as in the new book, “The Gay Preacher’s Wife” by Lydia Meredith, some surprises aren’t so welcome.
Born into a large southern family, Lydia had a “strict Christian upbringing” that kept her somewhat sheltered until she went to college. Her first year at Vanderbilt, she says, was “a real culture shock,” in part because she’d had little experience with dating and no experience with sex.
That changed at college, and so did Lydia. Gone was the scared little mouse, replaced by a confident young woman who landed a high-paying job, bought her own home, and dealt with racism in the workplace. It was a good life but Lydia was lonely, and she prayed to God for someone to love.
God, she says, told her that Dennis would be her husband.
That was an odd notion, since Lydia had had little contact with her church’s youth pastor. He was a charismatic preacher and she wasn’t sure she liked the way he spoke from the pulpit. She’d barely even acknowledged that he existed but from then on, she says, “I could not take my… mind off this man…”
She was not, therefore, surprised when Dennis asked her out.
Their romance was not without its problems. Lydia says he was not her type, that she wanted someone to whom she could “marry up.” She didn’t want to be a preacher’s wife like the “miserable” first lady of her childhood church. Still, Lydia married Dennis Meredith, settled down and things got better before they got worse.
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