My school years began as a six years of age at Laverne, Oklahoma. From my mother, I learned that I was very shy and the teacher had me sit by her until I felt more secure about being in school. I remember that I really loved my teacher and was very sad when we moved away. My dad decided to stop working with the oil rig job because it was very rough and we had to move so often back and forth from Texas to Oklahoma. We moved to Oklahoma City where he first worked as a sand plant operator, then began working as a manager of gas stations which he did until he retired. I had to adjust to attending a very large school. I really did love to go to school and loved learning. We moved again to a place where we could be living more like a farm with a cow and chickens. We then had to walk on a dirt road to catch a bus to school. We really loved living there but did not like the mean boys that lived up the hill from us because they were always tormenting us kids. Dad bought us our very first television which had a small screen and showed black and white pictures. We almost always had a radio so dad could listen to his favorite music which was country music. He was much of the time singing or whistling songs and was very good at doing this. Mom worked outside of the home at times as a cook. I had my first job also as a babysitter for a family with several small children that lived down the road from us. I think I was about ten years of age at the time. I also remember that one-time mom was upset with my dad when we were living there because he had attempted to make a still for making his own beer. Dad, I’m glad that you didn’t get caught! Love you, DAD!!!
We then moved to a house that was by a railroad track and had to get used to the sound of a train which I eventually really learned to enjoy that sound. I was now at about the age of eleven and began attending a Baptist Church and made the life-changing decision to be baptized. This decision to follow my Saviour, Jesus Christ, started me on a journey to find more truths and to search for what purpose I was placed here upon this earth. When I was twelve years old, we moved to a farmhouse between the towns of Yukon and Mustang which was the cause of another turning point in not only my life but also in my family’s lives. For the first time since we left the farm when I was five years old, mom did not have to work outside the home. We all really enjoyed having mom at home full time and experiencing farm life again. We again had to walk the dusty road to catch the school bus to the small school in Mustang, Oklahoma. Being a student at this small school was a life-changing experience for me and each of my siblings. Each of us excelled in our educational studies. Also, we were blessed to attend the little country church called West Point due to the fellowshipping by two wonderful people, Bob and Ola Fry. These dedicated Christians would come to take us to church, “come rain or shine” on that dusty or muddy road. I was then baptized again into the Christian Church. What a loving and giving group of people they were! I studied the scriptures daily and my search for more truths and why I was here upon this earth continued. I attended Mustang School for two years and graduated from the eighth grade as valedictorian. My dad was so proud of me that he asked what I would like for a gift. I told him that I had always wanted a piano, not believing that was even possible due to the fact that pianos were probably much too costly for our family’s financial income. Much to my surprise, after graduation, I came home to find this old antique piano situated in our living room that my dad was able to purchase for sum total of fifty collars. I cried with joy and gave my dad a great big hug!
This is only one of many times that our parents sacrificed to give us our needs and wants in our lives. They also taught us the value of hard work and to do our best in whatever we wanted to achieve. Another great blessing came to me and my sister Sheila through knowing Ola Fry. She offered to give us free piano lessons if we would clean the little country church weekly. I had already learned musical notes as I was involved in the band at school as a clarinet player and once again my parents had sacrificed to buy me a clarinet. I loved playing the clarinet and was the first chair in the clarinet section. I also was on the basketball team but was unable to be a part of their games because I did not have a way to get to the games. I loved living in this place with mom at home, being involved with the wonderful people at the Mustang school and the good Christian people at the little country church, and am eternally grateful to all those who helped me to become a better me. We then were told we had to move again because the place we were living at had been sold and dad found a place north of Yukon. This meant we had to change schools and attend Yukon School. I was very sad and did not want to change schools but this is what I did reluctantly. I was now in high school and a stranger to most of the students who had known each other all of their lives but learned to love going to school at Yukon and became active in their Student Council and their choir. Also, mom and dad leased a small cafe and called it Lees’ Grill. That initiated another big change in our lives. While dad and my one brother, Richard were busy ten to twelve hours a day managing a gas station, mom and the girls were busy at Lees’ Grill which was open 24/7 and closed only on Sunday. We girls learned to prepare and serve food and wash the never-ending dishes. This was another learning experience, especially in confronting and dealing with all kinds of people. I think that we truly were there more than at home but were involved in helping to sustain our family’s lives and working together for the good of each other. What valuable life lessons we learned. I also will relate one very funny but embarrassing experience to me. In the process of getting an order, I asked the person if he wanted smashed potatoes and he chuckled saying, “How do you smash them?” I then realized that they are not smashed but mashed potatoes. I never made that mistake again. Remembering school days again, I had a fabulous homemaking teacher who taught us how to make yummy biscuits and helped me to even sew myself a prom dress that even was wearable and looked very nice on me which I was able to wear for many occasions for many years. This was quite an accomplishment for me since sewing is a very trying skill for me and still is. If you want me to swear like a sailor, sit me down in front of a sewing machine. I’m so very grateful that my homemaking teacher had the patience of Job. Thanks so much to you, Mrs. Ramsey! Another teacher that really influenced my life was my English teacher, Ms. Ratcliff. She inspired me to use my creative skills in writing about all the many thoughts and emotions that I experienced on a daily basis in my life with my family, other people, nature, and all the world around me. I continued to study the scriptures and attend the little country church and search for my purpose in life. I received a small scholarship to attend Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. My dream was to become a missionary nurse.
I just remember another event that happened in my junior year that not only affected me deeply but all of America. The following are some of the thoughts and emotions that I wrote in my journal about this event. “On Friday, November 22, 1963, at one o’clock, our president was dead, assassinated by Lee Oswald, a man whose scorpion mind had to let some of its deadly poison escape. President Kennedy, America’s symbol of freedom and courage, happened to be its victim, but our generation is not the first to experience such a tragedy or will be the last. The church, or symbol of strength and comfort in times of crisis, was sought by everyone. We must remember that “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
My senior year passed much too quickly and I was now a graduate. I had met a very handsome young man with dark hair and eyes. He was of the Nazarene faith and we dated during that summer. I was excited about going to college in the fall. I was very surprised when this young man asked me to marry him. He was my first boyfriend and this was my first proposal. I had no idea that he felt that way about me,and felt very sad to tell him that I really liked him but was not ready for marriage and already had plans to become a missionary nurse.
