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“Gee mah Nittly! This has
to be the red soil of planet Mars!” I exclaimed. We were on our way to
Rod's aunt's home in Lexington, Oklahoma and the new terrain differed from
the black soil of the prairie where I had grown up. “I didn't know there
was land like this anywhere in the state!”
Actually, we never made it
into Lexington because the abandoned Army base which was our destination
was looming up on the horizon. There were heavy gates through which we
drove. The place had been given over to a guarded area for the aging and
mentally challenged. Rodney's aunt was the administrator over the
institution and had invited us to stay for a short visit with her while we
found a house in Norman, Oklahoma. Rod had secured a good job at Federal
Aviation in Oklahoma City and we opted to live in Norman, which was a
smaller town. The stay at this place was to be for only a short time until
we could find a house in the town that was home to the University of
Oklahoma.
We drove through the
barracks looking building to the very edge of the compound where Auntie
Pud lived. It was the old quarters of the officer who had at one time been
over the base. Auntie Pud was standing in the doorway while she held the
screen open in a welcoming way. She was fully dressed in her nurse's
uniform and cap just as if ready to go on duty. In fact, the dedicated
woman was always on call. Rod's auntie was a chain smoker and continually
held a cigarette in her hand as she was now doing. She was single, a
widow, who lived in this rambling old house by herself.
As I had learned from Mary
Jane, I was soon to learn from this bright woman. I was so naive and had
no idea the Flood's had hatched a clever scheme to slowly work me around
to a place where these would be able to do what they felt was best for my
child. However, at the moment there was blissful ignorance of what was
ahead for me.
Auntie Pud's hobby was
cooking. Her kitchen was now filled with the pleasant aroma from the
delectable recipes for dishes on which she had been working. The very
long, wide house was where anyone could wish to live. Spacious rooms,
polished furniture, large French doors leading onto a large patio had a
feel that the house was designed for easy living and entertaining. Long
overhanging eaves allowed the tall windows to stay open while cool summer
breezes gently blew through them, unhampered by drapes or fabric. I felt
at home.
Our bedroom was at the far
end and off that master bedroom was a screened covered-patio with heavy
outdoor furniture that was very comfortable. We did learn to enjoy that
outside room especially in the evenings after dinner. Auntie Pud retired
early and this place gave all of us privacy.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1836397.php
“Do you mind if I read some
of the books in your library?” I asked of Rod's aunt.
“Of course not! Let me show
you how they are arranged.” The wise woman evidently had studied these
books. They were organized and neatly arranged so that it was easy to find
whatever a person wanted to know.
At Auntie's home there were
people to do the cleaning, the ironing and was even a woman who enjoyed
taking Rhonda for walks up and down the untraveled road in front of the
house. This left me free to do research on the conditions of brain damaged
children. It was probably, what fortified me in standing for the decisions
I would have to make regarding Rhonda's therapy and future place of
residence. I studied voraciously the behavior of children with different
injuries and their learned behavior or trauma induced habits. Many times I
was able to use the knowledge for the good of some child in one way or
another. As the alcoholic who learns to deal with his problem by calling
some happenings a “God Thing,” so this became that to me. It was a “God
Thing” which, ultimately, caused their schemes to back fire on them. |
