How I met The Rancher

When I was growing up, there were a lot of school houses throughout this area of Oklahoma. They were mostly two rooms with restrooms and some had an addition for a place to cook a lunch. These schools gave one an education through the 8th grade. The last ones in this area closed in the late 1960's and sit vacant today. I am telling you this because I went to such a school and my husband went to another. The school that I attended had previously had a high school, but the enrollment in our small town had dwindled so much that it would not have been accredited. When this happened, we were transfered to the nearby town for our higher education.

The year I started high school, I joined a group of transfers from 4 other schools. We were in the big school in town and we were scared to death. My class had always had 8 students at a maximum and I know the other small schools were the same. We finally fit in and if nothing else we blended with the other rural kids. I was always a tall girl and had reached my height of 5'8" when in the 6th grade. Some of the kids that came in were soooo short. There were 2 boys that barely came to my shoulder. They were from a community out west of town. I was from the east. I could not believe these boys could even be in Jr. high school much less be freshmen.

Time passed and I was involved in all of the things that I liked in a larger school.
I was in Chorus, sang in the quartet, played basketball, was involved in FHA and and later took band. I liked being busy. My Junior year there was a new boy in our class. Well, I thought he was new, something was familiar about him but he was so tall and good looking that he caught my attention. I soon realized that he was one of those little short kids from out west. I couldn't believe the transformation in him over the summer. I thought he was rather handsome and tried to think of some way to catch his eye. As I mentioned my feelings to one of my friends, I hoped she would relay the message that I thought he was cute. Well, as she was visiting with him, HE ASKED HER FOR A DATE. That certainly backfired. Another time, he took one of my friends home from the movies and sent His friend to ride with me. This scenario went on for over a year.

At the beginning of our Senior year, our band members were given tickets to the nearby Rodeo for marching in the parade. Several people did not want to use theirs so I offered to take a few off their hands. My friends and I told some guys (my secret beau included) that we had tickets if they would want to take us to the big Rodeo in Woodward. Now this is one of the best rodeos in the country and everyone wanted to go there Some of our local men were World Champions in their events.
This was the beginning of a courtship that lasted for a year and a half. The Rancher came into my life after much scheming and manipulating. It was supposed to be though, as we are still together after that first date 47 years ago. I never really chased him but I sure let him know that I was available. He told me later that he thought I was just wanting a ride, as he didn't think I would really want to go with him. He secretly wanted to date me too. He was always too shy to ask. I am glad that I was persistant and didn't give up. He is still my sweety today and we still go to the Woodward Elk's Rodeo and laugh about our 1st date.