Oklahoma

I-35, I-40 and I-44 are the dominating highways in this the State our married life began in

From Shamrock in Texas to Van Buren in Arkansas, you travel across the entire width of

Oklahoma and we have done so both ways many times

It is filled with wide open spaces and then in the east becomes a rolling hilly lake filled country

The west through Weatherford and Clinton is all about open areas with cattle and big sky

The East, going past Shawnee and St. Gregory's College on past the prison in McAlester, horse racing in Sallisaw and The Cherokee's in Tahlequah

We have canoed the Illinois River and been burned and infected and almost died and still we go back

We have been there in flood stage and in drought with cattle grazing as we floated

The Northeast Corner beyond Tulsa, and up through Bartlesville is all about oil

Heck maybe the whole state was all about oil at one time with an active oil well on the Capital grounds

South from Kansas to Oklahoma City is probably the most farming area in the state

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building memorial is a somber yet quite beautiful place.

 We took these pictures early one morning there and it is a must visit in Oklahoma City

There are many horse farms down toward the Red River and they are beautiful

Once there was the smallest National Park in America, Platt NP now a recreation area

Stillwater is the home of Oklahoman State University and we took young people there to see raffle tickets during football season

South from Oklahoma City to Texas is the drive Linda and I took on our honeymoon over forty five years past

Norman is the home of the University of Oklahoma which during football season dominates the mood of the state

We stopped in Ardmore for broken cookies and were asked if we were running away to get married

We explained in our red 1961 Corvair Wagon we had just been married that noon in the Tinker Air Force Base Chapel

Linda was still seventeen and I was all grown up at twenty

We travelled past Turner Falls, a place we had camped out many times both before we were married and afterwards

We climbed the rocks and swam in the water below the falls and later took our children there and their classmates on field trips

In later years all of our children and grandchildren came to visit and we took them to Oklahoma City to the great zoo there

We also took them to visit Linda's parents and had a wonderful day with family

We have driven to Wichita Falls through the large Fort Sill and we once stopped to read about Geronimo who had lived there

We have driven through Boise City and Guymon the large town of the panhandle

Oklahoma City is where we got married and began our life

Actually it was Midwest City and Del City and Tinker Air Force Base

A $1500 loan from a crazy good banker turned into respected stores in two malls

We lived in Del City for so many years as we started and owned our own business 

First in Midwest City, then a tiny strip mall in Del City and later in Shepherd Mall and Quail Springs Mall

We sold huge stuffed animals, glorious chess sets, wonderful music boxes, German Steins and especially fabulous dolls

Wonderful young people that we still remember with much love worked with and for us

Our youngest daughter was born there and we were very active in the St. Philip Neri Parish

Our daughters went to Mt. St, Mary's HS which sits on the highest point in the county and once overlooked a huge buffalo herd

Linda and I loved to go to the State Fair which is huge and we also worked there for the a fund raiser for the school each year

Linda and I sang in the choir and I was a member of the Parish Council and we were active with the youth

Linda was a bowling champion in high school before we met and is still a good bowler

We founded the Oklahoma High School Chess Association and a beautiful large trophy still resides in the Midwest City HS trophy case

Much later in life we would travel to Del City for Tae Kwan Do Tournaments

Linda is a 1st degree Black Belt and performed on an exhibition team in Del City

In the very same gym where she graduated from high school the year we were married

The Cowboy Hall of Fame is a must see

We used to work the food concessions as fundraising for Mt. St. Mary's at the National Rodeo Finals

Linda's parent's retired in Del City and were an important part of the time we lived there

Linda's parents still live in Midwest City and survived the horrible tornadoes there

There was more utter devastation during that time than of life was minimal any I have ever seen and yet the loss

We went to the theatre there often and the zoo and we were a part of the community

One of our fond memories has to do with buying gas in Oklahoma City

We remember paying 19 cents a gallon for gas, can you believe

I will never forget seeing Pete Rose in an exhibition game in Oklahoman City

So many other baseball greats were there on a hot night but it was Pete Rose and the way he approached and played the game

He stayed in the game until he got a hit and he also ran to first when he was walked

All this on an incredibly hot humid Oklahoma night and in a meaningless exhibition game

 I fell in love with him then and today still believe he should be in the Hall of Fame

Linda was so young and beautiful and is still a full bodied gorgeous woman today

I have included her graduation picture and one or two others of our beginning

My mom and Dad had their first house there and we also owned homes there including our first home

Below are two of our earliest married pictures both of the first home we bought

We had to sell this home when I went into the military and we could not afford the mortgage payments of around $80 a month

This was the volatile time of youth, raising children,

chasing the dollar and being mean and many regrets

It was also a time of joy and daring and doing what could not be done

There is obviously a lot more

we could write both good and terrible about our life in Oklahoma

It is a time we will always remember with love, pain, and emotion

We began there!

Some pictures from our store at Quail Springs Mall!