A Community That Followed Me across the County
Dana (Norris) Kruse ’07 shared this beautiful reflection with us about her experience as a Luther alum at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Raleigh, N.C.
When we moved to North Carolina in August of 2019, we only knew two people and didn’t really have a place to land, so I knew we needed to find a church home. While I was checking out places, I showed up at a Bible/book study one morning and felt entirely out of place. It’s hard to be the new person in the room when everyone knows everyone else. I awkwardly introduced myself to a few folks, when out of nowhere a very kind woman came up and said, “Did you go to Luther College?” A little taken aback, I was shocked when I looked down at my sweatshirt and saw I was wearing a Luther alumni shirt. The woman introduced herself as Marcia (Larson) Kalarites ’69 and told me that she was a Luther grad too. We had a chance to talk about our time in Decorah and the changes to campus life between her time and mine. It was a remarkable connection and one that I have valued for the past six years.
Marcia (Larson) Kalarites ’69 (left) and Dana (Norris) Kruse ’07
As I moved from church member to serving as the director of children and youth ministries at Good Shepherd, Marcia (a fellow Midwesterner) was the only one who knew how to make the scotcheroos for the reception after I was commissioned. Now, as I’m preparing for my time at Good Shepherd to come to an end, Marcia came to me a few days after I announced that I’d accepted a position at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minn., to share with me that she had grown up at Trinity in Stillwater and was so happy that I was going to another wonderful community.
When I was in high school, I knew I wouldn’t do well at a large college/university. I’ve always been the kind to value community, so Luther was a perfect fit for me. When I chose Luther in 2003, I never knew I was also joining a community that would span generations and follow me across the country. It’s one thing to get emails around Christmas, but it’s quite another to have a genuine connection when most needed. I could not be more grateful for this community and how it has upheld me when I felt most alone.