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Honoring abstinence
| Sunday, Sep 3 2006 9:40 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Sep 3 2006 9:44 PM
Sherrill Gould decorated the church for a wedding. Candles and flowers covered Calvary Chapel Westbrook.
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But there was not just one bride. There were many, Gould said.
Girls and their mothers, about 180 in all, filled the pews of the church in late August.
The prayer was for these girls to wed their values to Jesus; specifically, to remain virgins until they marry.
This was the second annual purity event Gould has thrown in honor of her daughter, Danielle, who died in a car crash at age 17.
Before her death, Danielle had confided in her mother that she wanted to remain a virgin until marriage and wanted her mother's encouragement, suggesting a mother and daughter luncheon for their friends.
That was the inspiration for the event, where for the second year in a row, women with a variety of experiences told the girls their stories.
Danielle's best friend, Bree Osthimer, 21, was one of the speakers. She said that it has been hard to go on without someone who shares her values.
"Now that she's gone I don't have the same accountability," Osthimer said. "I miss having someone who has the same passion for it that I do."
Another woman said she waited until she was married.
A third woman discussed the pain pre-marital sex had caused her, including the heartache of breakups and abortion.
Many of the girls and women who attended the event were inspired by their stories to abstain from sex until marriage. Others found it to be a good mother-daughter bonding moment during those difficult teen years, Gould said.
These kinds of stories have inspired Gould to start brainstorming for the coming year.
She wants to bring dance and singing into the event, two activities her daughter loved.
"My wheels are already spinning," Gould said, in an upbeat departure from previous feelings she struggled with: Gould almost backed out of the event, because the pain of losing her daughter was still so bad.
"It was painful because it was an anniversary of her death, but it helped me to be able to help others share her goal," Gould said.
There are lots of regular "Joes" and "Janes" out there doing perfectly extraordinary things with their lives but never make the headlines. Know of anyone like that? Think they'd make a great story? Call us at 395-7384 or e-mail us at local@bakersfield.com and say you have a submission for a Real People story.