When they Were Young

Wouldn't it have been fun 
to have known our mothers

Father and daughter at Turner Falls 1915

when they were young?

I'm fascinated with the lives of my family because they seemed so adventurous and willing to take huge risk, until the crash of the stock market.  As a child of a parent who lived through the depression I know how sadly those times impacted their young lives.  

I see my mother around the age of three with her father visiting Turner Falls, a view I've returned to many a times in my travels.  I go to enjoy the vistas, the spring flowers, the cactus, the water falls, but mostly I think I go there to stand where my mother might have stood as a child, and wondered.  What did she see?  What did she feel?

Helen, ...., brother Tom

I imagine she held tight to her daddy's hand.  She was his first born and they were a team.  She worshipped him, and rightly so.  How proud he must have been standing there on the edge of the old mountains or walking in the waters down below.  He loved his little Helen and missed her greatly when he was out working the oil fields making a living. He prospered greatly in the Ardmore area, then moved his oil exploration company to Wichita where he and Pearl raised three children through the depression years. The stock market crash sent his investments tumbling. He recovered enough to raise his family.  Times were tough and they closed off parts of their three story home to create apartments. Mother rarely talked about those years, and the reality is that I don't know much about her life from 1930--1940.  

My mother, Helen, and her brother and sister, attended Sunnyside school and East High School in Wichita.  One time when we visited grandmother Pearl in the home on Oakland, mother walked me through the neighborhood and told me names of all of the children who used to live in those homes on Chautauqua street, English st., and Waterman. She shared stories of playing with friends in the College Hill Park area, of going to movies, and to Dockam's Drug Store. She became an accomplished ice skater during her childhood and often drove her daddy's car up and down Douglas Avenue.  

Helen's father

Perhaps her most cherished memories grew in the garden where her dad raised the vegetables.  She'd sit on the steps out back while we played and tell about the times she would help her daddy in the garden; digging, planting, and pulling weeds, then picking the fresh vegetables.  

I think her heart was searching for her dad who died, a year before his first grandchild, Letty Stapp,  was born. Maybe, just maybe, I know more about how she felt on those trips to her old home in Wichita because today and for so many days since 1989 I search for my mother.

*This year on Mother's Day I spent the afternoon with my

daughter, Katy, laughing and creating memories of mother and daughter times.  During the afternoon while the two of us painted, my mother found me through our open hearts, and I smiled but tears flowed gently down my cheeks.   I love you Mother today and everyday.

My wish and my prayer for all of you who read this story, is that you find the love you are searching for.

A Christmas Wish

Natures beauty year round.

Nineteen years ago tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked out our window into the woods and thickets on our land East of Norman, and began saying my goodbyes to our tiny world of nature's beauty, to our friends, and family.  

Katy and Matt 1990

Little did I know how blessed we'd be with eighteen years in Hutchinson, Ks.  Hutch is a place where we knew our neighbors; we borrowed eggs, sat out back and shared a drink and our daily stories; watched children and grandchildren grow up; loved on our

Pepper loved to have her ears rubbed.

pets up and down the street.  The birthdays said we turned another year older, but the laughter we shared kept each of us young. (We never thought to take pictures.  Guess we just thought we'd see each other everyday.)

Pat Maca French, Jack, Letty, Larry French

Jeannette and Kathy at LaVonne's in Buhler.

Kansas filled our hearts with memories of the prairie, the winds, the snows, but mostly the friends we met. We shared gourmet meals, rounds of golf, travels, bottles of wine, cheerful lunches, absorbing book discussions, and built deep and lasting friendships.   Our careers changed courses just like our lives, but with each change came growth, learning, and new friends.  We are thankful for those changes and those years filled with happiness and sorrow.

Our comfy chairs made the move and have already felt snow this year.

   

Once again the tears flowed as we said our goodbyes to the snowy windswept Kansas prairie and friends. We anxiously arrived in Oklahoma to family, friends, and a new future as a retired couple
searching for another purpose in life.

With winter's cold breath outside, we sit by the window and count our blessings.  A new tree out back will offer shade in years to come and a home for animals.  It's not the rugged prairie nor the cross timbers by the lake, but it is home.  So from our home to yours We Wish you All the Peace and Beauty of the Season, and time to count your blessings.  

  *Happy Birthday to my Christmas family and friends: Jonya, Mary W, Ann W, Diane D, Patty M, Jim R, Doug B, Carol U, Kathy T, Lora W

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

A few days ago, I attended OWFI, a writer's conference, and  wore one of my colorful outfits from "Adrian's Boutique" in Buhler, Ks.  During the very workshop a lady sitting next to me complimented me on my outfit and asked where I bought it.  I smiled and replied, "In a small town in Kansas at a darling boutique..." but before I

Sandy, Letty, Vicki with Vera Bradley in the background!

could finish the statement she interrupted and laughed.  "You bought it at Adrian's didn't you?"  Goosebumps jumped down my arms in delight when I heard her response.   Pointing to the lady next to me she said, "We're both from Wichita, and we drive to Buhler several times a year to shop."

For a few minutes my mind left the conference and thought of all the familiar places we left behind, where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.

Anne Armstrong, owner of Roy's BBQ

On these cool spring days I would have enjoyed eating Roy's BBQ with the delicious garlic/vinegar coleslaw.  Several years ago I tried bribing Mike  for the recipe to the coleslaw; it didn't work so I just kept eating
there, slurping up the slaw and BBQ.  Now I miss the sweet and tart flavors, smoky aromas, and friendly chatter of the crowded tables, but most of all I miss hearing Anne's welcoming voice and cheerful smile, "Hello, Jack and Letty" or "You folks come back."

Drew & Jenny Bryant, owners of
Jackson's Meat Market 

As a teacher, I often find myself bragging on my kids; my kids I raised and my kids who lived in other homes but spent a year of their lives with me in the classroom or library.  I beam with pride every time I walk into Jackson's Meat Market, and hear Andrew Bryant's voice say, "Hello, Letty."  His lovely wife Jenny could only call me Mrs. Watt the first year they opened, but now we're just like friends sharing stories, only they are there, and I am here.  I highly recommend "Ray's Baloney" if you want a slice of tasty all beef bologna.  I am thankful that there really is more than one place in the world where everybody knows my name.

Cheers! dear friends, cheers!

<http://www.adriansonline.com/>

<http://www.roysbbq.com/>

<http://www.jacksonmeat.com/>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYcX534JqG4&feature=kp
 The song and lyrics to "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" are really quite interesting.

http://www.owfi.org/