Kathy Mathews:
CLASS OF 1969
Claremore High SchoolClass of 1969
Claremore, OK
Kathy's Story
NELSON & I MARRIED 8/68. WE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO VIET NAM SO WE WANTED TO BE TOGETHER BEFORE HE LEFT.3/69 HE LEFT FOR BOOT CAMP W/MARINE CORPS. I MOVED HOME W/MOM & WENT TO WORK W/SOONER PIPE IN TULSA.NELSON CAME HOME 8/69 20DAYS THEN WENT TO NAM. I WAS 7MOS.PG,WENT TO LIVE W/SISTER IN HOUSTON. NELSON CAME BACK FROM NAM 9/70.WE LIVED IN HOUSTON OFF & ON UNTIL '82.WE HAD 1 DAUGHTER,ADOPTED A SON IN '85.I STAYED BUSY SECRETARY/ACCTING,NELSON-ROCKWELL;BOEING.WE LIVED UP ON HUDSON LAKE AND LOVED AND OWASSO BUT NOW LIVE 1/2 MI.N OF WILL ROGERS DOWNS 5YRS AND LOVE IT. WE ADOPTED TWO MORE CHILDREN 1 1/2YRS AGO. SO WE HAVE A 40, 26, 19,11 AGE CHILD SPAN. WE HAVE TWO BASSETT HOUNDS 1 DAUCHOUND,1 TERRIOR MIX. WE HAVE 7 GRANDKIDS AND LOVE EVERY MINUTE NOW THAT NELS RETIRED JAN. 31 AND I AM NOT WORKING. YEA.... WE HAVE BEEN TOGETHER 45 YRS. THIS SUMMER AND MARRIED 42 YRS AUG.31. THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY YOU KNOW-YOU'LL HAVE TO COME BY AND SEE US OR CALL ANY TIME. HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
WE LIKE TO TAKE SCENIC RIDES ON NELS HARLEY OR GO PLACES WE HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE.
THE WILDEST THING WE DID IN SCHOOL WAS CUT CLASS ON THE DAY IN '68 WHEN THE BLIZZARD HIT. WE WENT TO OK CITY. WE WERE AT THE COWBOY HALL OF FAME. WE PASSED A WINDOW AND SAW THE SNOW AND FREAKED. IF MY MOM kNEW I CUT CLASSES IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A REALLY BAD SCENE. SO WE HIT THE ROAD. THE SNOW WAS SO BAD, WE FOLLOWED A GREYHOUND BUS UNTIL IT PULLED UP UNDER AN OVERPASS. SO WE WERE ON OUR OWN,SLIPPING AND SLIDING IN 1 FT OF SNOW WITH NELS 57 CHVY. WE FINALLY MADE IT TO STROUD & NELS HAD JUST ENOUGH CASH TO PUT CHAINS ON HIS CAR. THE ONLY THING THAT KEPT US GOING WAS THE FEAR OF MY MOM FINDING US OUT, WE MADE IT HOME, 30 MIN. LATE, SHE WAS MAD, WANTED TO KNOW WHY I WAS LATE. I TOLD HER I WENT WITH NELSON TO GET CHAINS ON HIS CAR. WELL, I DIDN'T LIE.
The one person from my past who I'd most like to see again is MRS TICE, because SHE WAS MY TEACHER, AND SEEMED TO BE THE ONE PERSON ALWAyS WATCHING OVER ME. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK HER .
I LOVE THE OLYMPICS, FOOTBALL,VOLLEYBALL, MY LOYALTIES ARE SOMETIMES WITH THE UNDERDOG JUST TO DRIVE NELSON CRAZY.
MY BIGGEST SURPRISE WAS ME BEING PLUMP AND NELSON BALD.
MY HERO WAS MY MOM. SHE RAISED ALL 8 OF US BY HERSELF. SHE COULD MAKE A DOLLAR GO FARTHER THAN ANYONE ELSE I KNOW. SHE TAUGHT ME TO BE INDIPENDANT AND STAND ON MY OWN. SHE TAUGHT ME WHO TO TRUST AND TO DEPEND ON. TO TAUGHT ME COURAGE AND STRENGHT. SHE WAS A HARD WOMAN BUT SHE WAS ALWAYS THERE, AND SHE HAD THE COURAGE TO STAND HER GROUND FOR WHAT SHE THOUGHT WAS FAIR AND RIGHT FOR US. SHE WAS HONEST.I MISS HER.
AFTER SCHOOL I MOVED TO HOUSTON, TX. TO LIVE WITH MY SISTER UNTIL NELS CAME HOME FROM NAM. WE CONTINUED TO LIVE AND WORK THERE UNTIL 1982. WE BOTH WORKED WITH OIL AND GAS AND KNEW THE BOTTOM WAS FALLING OUT SO WE FIGURED IT WAS A GOOD TIME TO MOVE BACK HOME TO OKLA.MY FIRST CRUSH BROKE MY HEART AND HURT MY FEELINGS IN THE WORST WAY. I DON'T THINK HE EVER KNEW HOW MUCH I REALLY LOVED HIM.
I LIKE MUMUS THESE DAYS BECAUSE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE. I GUESS I AM MY MOTHER.
DRIVING A FLORIST DELIVERY TRUCK WAS THE WEIRDEST JOB I HAD.
I share my home with 2 BASSETHOUNDS, 1 DACHOUND, AND AN 11 YR OLD BOY, which I find ABSOLUTLY ChAOTIC AND WILD SOME DAYS..
MY OLDEST FRIEND JAN CRUTCHFIELD. WE LIVED ON WHAT THEY CALL REAVIS ROAD NOW(IT WASN'T THEN). SHE AND I WERE FIRST FRIENDS IN THE FIRST GRADE AND WHEN WE FOUND EACH OTHER AGAIN THIS YEAR OUR PATHS HAVE PARRALLED EACH OTHER SO CLOSELY I WISH I HAD KNOWN. SHE WAS IN HOUST THE SAME TIME AS ME, FLYING HOT AIR BALLOONS,ME TOO, SHE LIVED IN OWASSO RAISING HER SON THE SAME TIME AS I WAS IN OWASSO RAISING MY FIRST ADOPTED SON, I DIDN'T KNOW, WE WALK THE SAME PATHS AND HAVE THE SAME LIKES STILL, WE COULD HAVE BEEN HAVING A BLAST AS ADULTS ,WHAT A WASTE, OH WELL AT LEAST WE FOUND EACH OTHER AGAIN.
I DON'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE I USED TOO. MOTHER NATURE REALLY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR.
My first job was at SMACK-N-SNACK, where I got paid $.65 HR PLUS TIPS to CARHOP. What I remember most about it is MEETING PEOPLE.
I REMEMBER MY BROTHERS CLIMBING UP PERSIMMON TREES AND PUMPING THEM AND PUSHING THEM UNTIL THEY WERE SWAYING BACK AND FORTH. ONE TIME THEY WERE GOING SO HARD AND SO FAST MY BROTHER GLENN (WHO MUST HAVE BEEN ABOUT 10)HAD HIS TREE BENDING AND SWAYING SO FAR IT WAS ALMOST TOUCHING THE GROUND AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE WENT FLYING THROUGH THE AIR-IT WAS A RIOT. I GUESS HE COULDN'T HANG ON. HE STILL DOESN'T THINK IT WAS FUNNY BUT FROM MY ANGLE IT WAS GREAT.
I WOULD LIKE TO BE. REMEMBERED AS A GOOD FRIEND.
WHEN I GET STRESSED I LIKE TO GO FOR LONG DRIVES WITH WINDOWS DOWN, THE RADIO PLAYING OLDIES, ESPECIALLY IN THE EVENING, I LOVE SUNSETS, IT REMINDS ME OF THE WORK I STILL HAVE UNFINISHED HERE AND NOW. ILOVED PLAYING MARBLES WITH THE GUYS IN GRADE SCHOOL. I WAS AS GOOD, AND COULD HOLD MY OWN.!
If I'm going to work somewhere, I need to have EYEGLASSES, MY WHEELCHAIR, to be able to deal
MY SISTER JANET IS MY OTHER HERO IN MY LIFE.SHE TOOK ME UNDER HER WING WHILE NELSON WAS IN VIET NAM AND SHOWED ME THE WORLD WHILE I LIVED IN HOUSTON. I LOVE HER SO VERY MUCH AND AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR HER COURAGE AND EXAMPLE. THANK YOU SIS.
I HAVE A TENDER HEART FOR BASSETHOUNDS. WHILE LIVING IN HOUSTON I HAD, CHARLIE, RAIPH,MARIAH, ANNIE, SADIE, (I GUESS YOU GET THE PICTURE) I RAISED THEM FOR SHOW) WE MOVED UP HERE AND HAD SAM AND SADIE AND OTHERS. NOW I HAVE RESCUED JOSIE AND ROCKY WHO NELS HAD A FIT ABOUT AND SAID NO MORE BUT WHO KNOWS, HUH?
The one person from my past who I'd most like to see again is STAN ROBERTSON, because HE WAS IN HOUSTON AROUND THE CORNER FROM WHERE MY SISTER LIVED. HE USED TO COME OVER ON SATURDAYS AND EAT BEANS AND CORNBREAD AND SIT IN MY ROCKING CHAIR AND SAY HOW MUCH IT FELT LIKE HOME. I MISS STAN..
. .
I HOPE TO CONTINUE TO LEARN MORE PATIENCE AND COMPASSION THE LONGER I AM AROUND MY CHILDREN.
If I won $100 million, I'd give 1MILLION of it to EACH OF MY SIBLINGS, then spend the rest on NEW HOME, SAVINGS and CHURCH AND TITHING.
I HOPE MY TRUE FRIENDS REMEMBER THE GOOD I COULD DO AND THE OLD FRIENDS REMEMBER FONDLY WHAT I WOULD HAVE TRIED TO DO AND FORGIVE WHAT I COULD NOT HAVE DONE.
I REMEM...Expand for more
BER THE BIKE RACE I WAS HAVING WITH JAN WATSON BACK W/ ME, I DON'T REMEMBER WHO ELSE WAS IN THE RACE ME. I DO KNOW WE WERE IN THE LEAD, I KNOW KENNY LEWIS LOANED ME HIS BANANA BIKE, WERE GOING VERY FAST AND JAN GOT FRIGHTENED AND BAILED OFF THE BIKE AND I LOST CONTROL, THAT'S ABOUT ALL I REMEMBER, DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? I KNOW I WAS KNOCKED OUT, BUT WOKE UP AND THEN WALKED TO CARMA SPROW'S HOUSE AND THEN HOME, MOM TOOK ME TO THE ER AND I WAS HURT PRETTY BAD, I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL A COUPLE DAYS W/CONCUSSION AND BUMMED UP ELBOW AND KNEES. I DON'T KNOW WHY KENNY EVER TALKED TO ME AGAIN. BUT I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I THINK I HIT A CAR. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN 1964.
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER MARTIAN BURGERS IN THE LUNCHROOM OF THE HIGH SCHOOL?
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHEN WE BOYCOTTED THE LUNCHROOM AND CHANNEL 2 NEWS CAME OUT FROM TULSA IN 1968.
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHEN NELSON SET OFF A FIREWORK IN MR. HUCKABY'S CLASS. HE GOT HIS BUT BUSTED FOR IT. MR . HUCKABY WAS MY ALGEBRA TEACHER RIGHT AFTER THAT AT THE JR HIGH AND MY DESK BUTTED UP TO HIS, HE TOOK IT VERY PERSONAL, I HAD TO TELL HIM I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, LATER I FOUND OUT MIKE JANOS HAD IT NELSON HAD THE LIGHTER
i used to spend some of my summer months at my grandmother's house in Collinsville. I got to know most of my cousins on my mother's side of the family since they all lived in the area around there. I loved her so much. My grandfather passed away when I was in 1 st grade. He was a Baptist preacher there, he built the church and house she lived in. We would walk to town on Saturday morning and go to the bank. I guessing she took money out for groceries, I remember inside the bank were salt water fish my uncle Ross had caught, mounted on display. we then walked to the grocery and bought groceries and left without them. by the time we got home a boy had delivered her groceries(we didn't lockup those days) and put them away for her. oh yeah.
I THINK IF IT WASN'T FOR GOING TO BE WITH MY GRANDMOTHER I WOULD NOT HAVE BECOME THE LONELY PERSON I AM. I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON HER FRONT PORCH THINKING. SHE WAS USED TO BEING ALONE. I REALIZE THAT NOW. I HAD BOY COUSINS DOWN THE STREET, SHE LET ME PLAY WITH THEM SOMETIMES BUT SHE WAS SO OLD FASHIONED .SHE WAS BORN IN 1890 AND WAS AN ONLY CHILD UNTIL SHE WAS 15, MOST OF THE TIME SHE WOULD SAY "YOU DON'T NEED TO GO PLAY WITH THOSE OLD BOYS" EVEN THO THEY WERE YOUNGER THAN ME. SO I SAT ON THAT PORCH WONDERING WHAT MY BROTHERS WERE DOING. BEING BORED TO DEATH AND DEVELOPING A GOOD IMAGINATION. BUT MOSTLY BORED.I DID LIKE EVENINGS. IT GOT HOT EVERYONE CAME OUT WITH A CHAIR AND SAT ON THE EAST SIDE OF THEIR HOUSE. AND IF YOUR LUCKY LIKE WE WERE YOU HAD GOOD NEIGHBORS AND THEY WANT TO COME SIT WITH YOU AND TALK. THAT WAS FUN LISTENING TO OLD FOLKS TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE I MEAN EVERYONE,....I LOVED IT I MISS IT. SITTING OUT AND TALKIN....MMMMMMMMMM
YES I DID LEARN TO TALK TOO MUCH AS A CHILD., EVERYONE CALLED ME CHATTY KATHY.IT IS A GOOD THING. SOMETIMES, ONCE IN A WHILE I DO HAVE SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY,LIKE MY BOY HAD A SWELL B-DAY PARTY WITH HIS PALS. IT WAS FUN TO WATCH THESE GUYS MAKE THEIR OWN FUN. I LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO TO SIT AND LET IT HAPPEN. IT WAS FUN. I WISH WE COULD GET TOGETHER WITH OLDE FRIENDS MORE OFTEN JUST TO SIT AND TALK AND SHOOT THE BREEZE ONCE IN A WHILE LKE IN THE OLD DAYS. IT WOULD BE NICE. ANYONE WANT TO COME OUT?
I HOPE OLD FRIENDS REMEMBER ME AS BEING OUTGOING, BUT LAID BACK, FUN BUT DEPENDABLE, SILLY AND LOYAL.
ONE OF THE DUMBEST THINGS I HAD TO DO WAS IN THIRD GRADE W/ BOBBY KIRKLY, MRS. ANDERSON MADE US GO SING RANDOLPH THE BOW LEGGED COWBOY TO ALL OF THE OTHER CLASSES. I THINK OF THAT NOW OH BROTHER....
If I'm going to work somewhere, I need to have GLASSES, MAGNIFYING GLASS, and CAR DRIVER to be able to deal with the day-to-day.
WE SPENT 3 MOS IN WASINGTON STATE WHILE NELSON DID MAINTENANCE AT THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AT HANFORD, I WORKED PART TIME AS A SECRCRETARY, HATED EVERY MINUTE OF BEING THERE.IT IS DESERT, UGLY DESERT, SAND A JACKWEED. COULD NOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO TEXAS.
The one person from my past who I'd most like to see again is JEAN WINDLE, because SHE GOES BACK/W ME SINCE THE 3RD GRADE, JUST OLD FRIENDS.
MY BIGGEST SURPRISE HAS BEEN HOW WELL NELSON AND I DID FOR OURSELVES CONSIDERING WE HAD NO OUTSIDE HELP. WE ONLY HAD EACH OTHER THE LAST 45 YEARS. WE DID NOT HAVE MOM AND DAD TO HELP OR GIVE ADVISE WE LEARNED HARD KNOCK OR JUST PLAIN STUPIDITY OR WENT TO SCHOOL ON OUR OWN OR WATCHED THE MISTAKES OTHERS MADE BUT WE DID IT TOGETHER AND IT I HARD AND SOMETIMES I QUESTION IF I AM SANE OR NOT AND I QUESTION WHETHER HE IS BUT WE ARE BOTH STILL HERE AND FUNTIONING SO I GUESS SAM THINKS WE ARE OK.42 YRS OF MARRIAGE SAYS A LOT . IT IS A PARTNERSHIP--HELL IT IS BIGGER THAN LARRY MELTON'S DEALERSHIP !!
JUST HOPE THEY REMEMBER ME!!
I always wanted to be a COURT REPORTER when I grew up. My family and friends thought that was a GOOD idea. As it turns out, they were RIGHT.
I LIKE TO WATCH TV TO BLOW OFF STEAM SOMETIMES.
My current age is 60. When I was 12, I thought that people my age now would be VERY OLD. I was so completely WRONG.
I HAD WORKED AS A SECRETARY/BOOKKEEPER/RECEPTIONIST/FILE CLERK/DATA PROCESSOR/FlORIST DELIVERY/SELF EMPLOYED
I HAVE BEEN RETIRED FOR 15 YEARS.
I share my home with MY HUSBAND NELSON AND SON SAM, which I find COMFORTABLE.
ON MY MANTLE ARE THE PICTURES OF ALL MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN--THESE ARE THE ONLY TROPHIES I NEED.
I TRY TO BE MORE PATIENT WITH SAM, TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN AND SPEND MORE QUALITY TIME AND EXPLAIN TO HIM ABOUT WHY THINGS HAPPEN THE WAY THEY DO. WITH THE OTHER KIDS I WORKED TOO MUCH AND DID NOT TAKE AS MUCH TIME TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND ABOUT LIFE. I HOPE TO BE A BETTER PARENT.
In 10 years, I hope to be ALIVE. I'm going to get there by PRAYER.
JAN CRUTCHFIELD AND I ONLY HAD BROTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE SAME AS ME, WE WERE BEST FRIENDS FROM THE START OF FIRST GRADE. BROTHERS THINK ABOUT IT!!
kindly, ihope my old friends remember me kindly. i remember baseball games with the marlers. there were enough of them and enough of us o play basebball on Thanksgiving. what memories and fun.
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