The most important and most challenging job that I have attacked was bringing two families together in peace with my wife. I started in April 1988.

My wife’s daughter was a strong spirited seven years old that her father had died with a heart attack suddenly three and half years prior . She had her mother ; her Grandmother and an Aunt. She also had her Grandfather and step Grandmother . But the Grandmother ,Aunt and Grandfather  were for weekends only . She went to a day care during the week after school until her mother got home on the afternoon bus ride from St Louis picked her car up and came to get her .She was born in Texas but had moved to Illinois at an early age . In Texas though being a proud Texan is born into you .

Then their were my two son’s . The oldest one that had just turned fifteen and had NEVER liked his birthday since he was six and his mother had died on his birthday that year. And his younger brother that was thirteen and a half that was full of energy and mischief. Of course his older brother always found something for him to get in to .He was in Jr High and wanted to be on the football team because he thought it was fun tackling some one and jumping on the ground .  ( Not Me ) . There mother had died nine years prior but they had just endured five years of torture from  a “STEP MOTHER “ They were both pretty head strong . This woman had to prove herself .

We didn’t have air conditioning in the kitchen but we had some in our bedroom . My wife had got off of work ; came home and cooked a large family pack of pork steaks . Probably ten pork steaks . Enough to feed the whole family . She was hot and wanted to cool off before eating and I wanted to wait and eat with my wife . Her daughter also wanted to wait . My wife told my two son’s to go ahead and eat and we would eat later . When we got back to the kitchen there was one pork steak left for each of us . My two son’s had eaten the rest of them . After that my wife started fixing the plates for every one so we could ALL get  our fair share . There have been a lot of times too many to mention that my wife and I have had to turn the TV off or have our daughter go to her room so we could have talks with our son’s over the years about life’s problems . But my oldest son like’s his birthday once again and he is pretty descent human being .

Like I said our daughter was born in Texas and it born in to them to be a “Proud Texan” Well guess what . I was born in Oklahoma and anybody that knows anything about college football . When Oklahoma University and Texas University plays on TV my wife goes and hides in the room. I have my OU hat and MY daughter has her Texas hoodie that she wears . So look out . GO SOONERS