I grew up in Muncie, about a mile from the UU church on Brook Drive. We were a very Catholic family. The UU church was shrouded in mystery for me as the church with the little, crooked metal sign on Morrison road, pointing to a thicket of woods with no visible building - quite different from the 10 story steeple of St. Mary's. I left Muncie in 1981 at age 18 only to return in 2003 for a faculty position in the Department of Biology at Ball State. During those years, I grew to know and admire Wathena Mayfield for the way she stayed a true friend to my ailing step-mother, Glenna Long-McDowell. I also knew that Wathena was a UU. In July of 2005, we joined some friends in an exploration of the UU church. I felt welcome from the first moment in that mysterious building. Last weekend, I "signed the Book". We sang a song about the church in the woods. I felt like my life had come full circle. I am so happy to be a part of a community that is trying to practice compassion in daily life long after the doors of that mysterious building have closed on Sunday. I had seen this in the friendship Wathena had extended to Glenna. Now, I get to sit with Wathena on Sundays and try to carry on that genuine UU life.