Ronald Baker:  

I only attended PC High School my junior and senior years. I played trumpet in the band and stage band both years. I sang in the choir my senior year. I came from Monahans High School in Monahans, Texas. There were more students in our senior class than the entire school at Monahans. If you are interested, Monahans is about 30 miles west of Odessa on I-20. Permian High School is in Odessa. Ever heard of "Friday Night Lights?" I was very fortunate to attend PC High School. I loved music and PC was one of the best in Oklahoma. I know PC High was also tops in academics. Some of you who read this may just shake your head and laugh out loud, when I tell you that I needed to take something for a half credit my senior year, and I signed up for trigonometry! If you were in that class, you probably thought, "How in the world did Gomer Pyle get in this class?" After graduation from PC, I graduated from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. From 5-1971 to 12-1973 I played my trumpet in the 77th U.S. Army Band at Ft. Sill, OK. In January 1974 I started graduate school at O.U. I met my future wife there. We were engaged by the end of Spring break. We were married 8-2-74 in Eastern Ohio and I started band directing in De Witt, AR later that month. We moved to Texarkana, TX 6-20-1977 and have lived here ever since. My wife, Linda, is a godly lady full of wisdom. I tell everyone that God temporarily blinded Linda, when I asked her to marry me. I married up! I am a Methodist preacher's kid. Linda's father worked at a brick yard along the Ohio River. She graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, MO. Evangel is an Assembly of God school. We both had degrees in music. When we met at O.U., she had already read the entire Holy Bible at least once. I had read parts of the Holy Bible and had memorized the 23rd psalm. You would have thought that I was the son of a (no offense now) used car salesman and that Linda was a minister's daughter! She was and is a better musician and smarter or a better student than I am! Gentlemen listen to me! If you are blessed to have an intelligent and or talented wife, let her bloom. Just as plants need sunshine, nutrients, and water, you need to shower her with kind words, praise, hugs, and kisses! All wives should be treated that way! We are all created by God to love others and to be loved! I know at times it is not easy. That is our sin nature. None of us are perfect! I have taught music and special education classes in all three school districts on the Texas side of town. I taught for almost three years in prison here in Texarkana, TX. The class in prison was called, "Changes." Some of the state inmates (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) were being housed in the Bowie County Correctional Center. This class was to prepare them to reenter society. The class covered topics of importance in all areas of life. All kinds of addictions, family issues, government, U.S. history, taxes, personality types, health issues, and more. It was a secular class, but on my first day I told them that I knew from personal experience, that the Holy Bible was the best "Changes" text book and that we all needed Jesus Christ in our hearts. So I "seasoned" our class with prayer and the Word of God as it pertained to the different subject areas. They loved it!!! Only one lady came to me and complained. But before the course was over ( it took three and a half months to complete), she ended up thanking me for applying the Word of God to the lessons. A number of years ago, the Hallmark...Expand for more