OKIE QUALITIES

OKIE ATTRIBUTES

There are wonderful stories around about the generosity of Okies. Nine-nine percent of us are compassionate and kind. Gramps had a funny experience with two men one time that proved there are always misshapen apples in every barrel.
Gramps called the guy who always sold fire wood to us, always stacked it neatly in the wood rack in the back yard and was always very gracious. The man proudly said that he had a regular job and didn't need to sell wood any longer, but his uncle had wood to sell. He gladly gave Gramps the cell phone number of his uncle.
The uncle answered his phone promptly. Gramps told him the story, that the uncle's nephew said to call him and order some wood. The uncle's answer was kind of strange for a guy who made his living selling wood. He said, "Will you call me back in thirty minutes? My brother is cooking me breakfast." Hum, we thought, that must really be a close family. He didn't even ask for Gramp's name or phone number. We thought his brother must really be a gourmet cook for a businessman to be so nonchalant about making money.
After about thirty minutes the man called Gramps, probably got the number from his recent calls listing on his cell phone, and quoted Gramps a price for a rick of wood. It was the same price as his nephew, our old wood supplier. The uncle said he would be at our house in 15 minutes with the wood.
Sure enough, he arrived with another man, probably his brother who had cooked such an appealing breakfast for him that he couldn't wait to eat. They started unloading the wood. Gramps commented to them that he is recovering from cancer and chemotherapy and could they bring a little bit of the wood up to the porch where Gramps could easily access it during the snow storm that was predicted.
The uncle sternly said, "We don't carry no wood for that price."
Evidently the gracious and kind gene that most Okies have was not present in his side of the family. There wasn't an obvious ounce of compassion in his eyes or in his voice.
Gramps offered to pay the men a little more money, and they agreed to bring some up to the porch. They were willing to help an older gentleman who was recovering from a devastating illness and chemotherapy, but it was going to cost him some money. These guys are in the 1% of Okies who aren't compassionate and kind.
We asked God to bless the men but decided that the man will certainly not get any more business from us.
It kind of reminded me of our grandchilden's story about their mother buying them a pygmy goat for a pet. The seller assured our daughter-in-law that the goat was certainly a male. The grandkids had a ball with the fat goat until two weeks later when it birthed twin babies. Uh-huh, the former owner had gotten rid of the pregnant goat under the auspices of it being a male. Of course, by the time she birthed the twin babies the children were already attached to it. No chance of returning it then. I'm sure the former owner counted on that. No compassion and kindness there, either, and a few ounces of dishonesty. The goat did provide some entertainment, though. It routinely jumped up on the lawn furniture and hopped onto the trampoline and had a good time jumping. All was not lost since that was a sight to behold.
Gramps heard a court case one time where one of the witnesses worked at a chicken plant. The witness had a rare professional title. He was a chicken sexer. He stood in the plant and picked up the baby chicks and separated the roosters from the hens. Now, how do you figure he could do that? He spent all his work days chicken sexing. That's a profession we all want our kids to strive for, chicken sexing.
Anyway, our daughter-in-law and her sister who was with her when she bought the goat could have benefited from some lessons in goat sexing. Just a minute, that doesn't sound quite right. That could be taken kind of as a back hills Okie perversion. What I really meant is they could have been taught to tell the difference between a small male goat and a female goat and they wouldn't have been so easily deceived.
The uncle who sold Gramps the wood needs some lessons in Okie kindness and the lady who sold the pregnant pygmy goat to our grandkids' mom need some lessons in Okie honesty.
However, even with those experiences, we're still proud to be Okies from Muskogee where we still fly Old Glory at the courthouse and where most people don't try to cheat weak and recovering grandpas by demanding more money for a simple feat of carrying a few armloads of firewood 25 feet, and where ladies don't pawn off a pregnant goat onto an unsuspecting mom who wants to buy a pet for her children.
Actually, how many people do you know who are creative enough to buy pygmy goats as pets for their children? See, we are unique people in Oklahoma.

BOOSTER JETS

As for Steve's series of tests that he had Tuesday at MD Anderson in Houston, blood work, chest x-rays, CT scan and full cardio workup, the oncologists, his nurse practitioner and his oncology nurse were almost giddy they were all so elated and almost ecstatic over the test results.

There still is no evidence of any more cancer anyplace. Also, the radiologist's report said that the blood clot in Steve's lung has COMPLETELY RESOLVED. Praise God!

The nurse, who Steve saw first yesterday, kept remarking that lots of their 30 year old patients do not endure the strong, strong chemo as well as Steve did. And she said that lots of them do not have good results. She was all smiles and laughs and praises for Steve.

Kavin, the nurse practitioner, came in all smiles, too, and told Steve that he sure looks great for having the extremely strong chemo for so long. He said, "Put some hair on your head and nobody could tell that you've had all that chemo." Then he read all the results of the tests to us, rejoicing with every positive result. He was particularly pleased that the blood clot has "completely resolved" like the report said. He said they didn't expect that quick and that good a result.

Dr. Ludwig came in almost skipping, telling Steve with a big grin, "Now, let's see, you're 55; aren't you?" Then he said, "We didn't expect that chemo to work that good on a man your age. " Steve told him the number is 74 and the doc said he really knew that, but it's hard to believe it. Then he reiterated that 30 year old people don't tolerate the strong chemo as well as Steve did, nor do they get such fast results. He had told us before, at another appointment, that even children, who heal quickly from any wound, always have to have a year of chemo for the same rhabdomyosarcoma. The doctor kept calling Steve "amazing" and smiling and laughing. He told us that the reports were the bright spot of his day, week and month, because they don't hear miraculous results that often.

We all know why Steve was able to endure the chemo and get such great results. It's God's intervention in the situation, His powerful and wonderful anointing on the meds, the doctors and on Steve.

It was also God's wisdom that was given to the Muskogee doctors to remove all the numerous visible tumors when they operated, leaving only some small tumors and invisible ones. Without their wisdom, he would have had a harder time with the chemo. Don't get me wrong it has been tough on him, but there has certainly been an extra supernatural dose of strength for him.

Also, all of your prayers, the communion of the saints, multiplied mightily in sending God's special anointing on the chemical cocktail so that it had speedy results. Of course it would, with God's power in it and behind it God's power was the Booster Jet that allowed His revelation of just the right chemical combo to do its work.

The Booster Jet was the key to the good results, and that was from your fervent prayers. You know that "fervent" in the scripture that says, "The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much," means in the Greek "explosive fire power." So that was the reason for the dramatic results that left the doctors giddy and excited.

The same Booster Jet also was behind the speedy results of the blood thinner shots. The doctor originally said that Steve might have to be on the shots for a year. They don't know about God's Booster Jets. They were amazed at the fast results.
They want Steve to continue with the shots at least until the next appointment, which will be in April, just to prevent any more clots . No problem for him.

That's the thrilling report Steve got yesterday in Houston. It was a thrill to hear the great report, but it was also a thrill to see the doctors excited about Steve's results. We know that they don't see that dramatic results very often, like they all said. They have a tough job, dealing with all people who are in the beginning, middle and end of devastating illnesses. Knowing that they gave the right prognosis and treatment in just one case gives them the impetus to continue with their jobs of ministering to the ill people in body, mind and spirit. I bless them in their difficult jobs.

We'll never be able thank all of you for your Booster Jet prayers. Their work in the situation will continue through the rest of the three month checkups in Houston, which will last two years, then six month checkups and then yearly checkups. That's comforting, to know that he will be monitored for the rest of his life and then if anything were to happen, they know the cure for it.

We can rest in God's miracles and also the wisdom and insight He has given to the doctors, who are extensions of His loving help.

Bless you, bless you for your part in the miracles. For your prayers in the matter, we are eternally grateful.

As for Steve's series of tests that he had Tuesday at MD Anderson in Houston, blood work, chest x-rays, CT scan and full cardio workup, the oncologists, his nurse practitioner and his oncology nurse were almost giddy they were all so elated and almost ecstatic over the test results.
There still is no evidence of any more cancer anyplace. Also, the radiologist's report said that the blood clot in Steve's lung has COMPLETELY RESOLVED. Praise God!
The nurse, who Steve saw first yesterday, kept remarking that lots of their 30 year old patients do not endure the strong, strong chemo as well as Steve did. And she said that lots of them do not have good results. She was all smiles and laughs and praises for Steve.
Kavin, the nurse practitioner, came in all smiles, too, and told Steve that he sure looks great for having the extremely strong chemo for so long. He said, "Put some hair on your head and nobody could tell that you've had all that chemo." Then he read all the results of the tests to us, rejoicing with every positive result. He was particularly pleased that the blood clot has "completely resolved" like the report said. He said they didn't expect that quick and that good a result.
Dr. Ludwig came in almost skipping, telling Steve with a big grin, "Now, let's see, you're 55; aren't you?" Then he said, "We didn't expect that chemo to work that good on a man your age. " Steve told him the number is 74 and the doc said he really knew that, but it's hard to believe it. Then he reiterated that 30 year old people don't tolerate the strong chemo as well as Steve did, nor do they get such fast results. He had told us before that even children, who heal quickly from any wound, always have to have a year of chemo for the same rhabdomyosarcoma.
The doctor kept calling Steve "amazing" and smiling and laughing. He told us that the reports were the bright spot of his day, week and month, because they don't hear miraculous results that often.
We all know why Steve was able to endure the chemo and get such great results. It's God's intervention in the situation, His powerful and wonderful anointing on the meds, the doctors and on Steve. It was also God's wisdom that was given to the Muskogee doctors to remove all the numerous visible tumors when they operated, leaving only some small tumors and invisible ones. Without their wisdom, he would have had a harder time with the chemo. Don't get me wrong it has been tough on him, but there has certainly been an extra supernatural dose of strength for him.
Also, all of your prayers, the communion of the saints, multiplied mightily in sending God's special anointing on the chemical cocktail so that it had speedy results. Of course it would, with God's power in it and behind it God's power was the Booster Jet that allowed His revelation of just the right chemical combo to do its work. The Booster Jet was the key to the good results, and that was from your fervent prayers.
You know that "fervent" in the scripture that says, "The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much," means in the Greek "explosive fire power." So that was the reason for the dramatic results that left the doctors giddy and excited.
The same Booster Jet also was behind the speedy results of the blood thinner shots. The doctor originally said that Steve might have to be on the shots for a year. They don't know about God's Booster Jets. They were amazed at the fast results. They want Steve to continue with the shots at least until the next appointment, which will be in April, just to prevent any more clots . No problem for him.
That's the thrilling report Steve got yesterday in Houston. It was a thrill to hear the great report, but it was also a thrill to see the doctors excited about Steve's results. We know that they don't see that dramatic results very often, like they all said. They have a tough job, dealing with all people who are in the beginning, middle and end of devastating illnesses. Knowing that they gave the right prognosis and treatment in just one case gives them the impetus to continue with their jobs of ministering to the ill people in body, mind and spirit. I bless them in their difficult jobs.
We'll never be able thank all of you for your Booster Jet prayers. Their work in the situation will continue through the rest of the three month checkups in Houston, which will last two years, then six month checkups and then yearly checkups. That's comforting, to know that he will be monitored for the rest of his life and then if anything were to happen, they know the cure for it.
We can rest in God's miracles and also the wisdom and insight He has given to the doctors, who are extensions of His loving help.
Bless you, bless you for your part in the miracles. We are eternally grateful.
Love,

EPSIE'S CURSE

EPSIE'S CURSE
T. Wieland Allen

Epsie was a wonderful friend and neighbor. She was always there for us. She never let one house guest leave our house without having a plate full of her best-ever fudge, not the kind made with marshmallow cream, but the fudge made in her old beat up pan on top of the stove with sugar and cocoa as the basic ingredients.
Epsie was always good for a laugh, too, being that she was one of God's wonderful characters. I could write a volume about her, and I might some time but not right now. I want to tell you about her words that came to me as if she were speaking them to me in my presence rather than from heaven, where she's lived for quite a few years.
The topic of her words in my mind referred to a conversation we had years ago. She told me that she was talking to her daughter one day on the phone, which was their daily habit since both daughters lived far away in other towns. Epsie told me that her daughter said to her, "Mom, don't you and your friends ever talk about anything else but the three Cs?"
Epsie asked her daughter what three Cs she was talking about as being the subject of all of her conversations.
Her daughter said, "You only talk about constipation, cholesterol and children. Don't you have any other subject in life in which you are interested? "
Epsie assured her daughter that, yes, certainly those three Cs comprised 99 percent of the conversations between herself and her friends.
Since my husband and I have great cholesterol numbers, that leaves out that interesting subject from our talks together or with friends.
Our children are wonderful people, self supporting, independent, happy, and with the wisdom to handle their own problems, so we have no problems relating to our children on which to bore people or elicit their input.
That leaves the last subject of interest in the conversations of Epsie, her friends, and most other people over 70 years old. Constipation.
Now, that is not a normal subject in which my husband and I are interested, because it's never been a problem for us. However, during a current surgical procedure and the beginning of chemotherapy treatment that subject has been foremost in our minds. In fact, it has become kind of an obsession. I can finally understand Epsie's obsession with it. It can be a real problem.
The PDR information on all three chemotherapy meds which my husband has been prescribed have a notation that we dreaded seeing, "MAY CAUSE CONSTIPATION." Then the PDR information on the meds given to him to prevent nausea and vomiting read, "MAY CAUSE CONSTIPATION."
Well, let me tell you, they got the inscriptions wrong. The package inserts and the PDR information should have said, "WILL CERTAINLY, 100% CAUSE CONSTIPATION, LOCKING YOU UP SO SUCCESSFULLY THAT ONLY DYNAMITE CAN UNLOCK YOU. "
Three days into the chemotherapy there it was, Epsie's curse, present in our lives. We had escaped the other two conversation topics but now we were in the throes of 24 hour, every second of every minute of every day talking about the third C topic.
The more remedies we tried, the more frustrated we became. We tried stool softeners. We tried meds the pharmacist suggested. Then we tried Dr. Gott's formula which consists of applesauce, prune juice and bran mixed together. We tried Metamucil. We tried plain hot prune juice. We tried more stool softeners, now being on the side of disobeying the orders on the side of the bottle cautioning people not to take more than four in a day. We tried bran cereal. We tried bran muffins. At that point dynamite was looking very possible as the next step, or the dreaded trip to the ER to have the doctor there do their painful plumbing unstopping procedure.
My sister Lou, bless her sweet, resourceful heart, called to inquire how the third day of chemo had gone. I relapsed into Epsie's curse of talking at length about the constipation problem. Then she spoke magic words, "Have you tried suppositories?"
Oh, My Gosh, how did we ever forget that one?
Looking in my medicine cabinet I found a jar of suppositories, the magic cure. I gave it to my husband, and voila, several hours later the problem was solved.
This is my last opportunity to talk about the three Cs that permeated Epsie's conversations. The one C that became a problem was instantly cured by my sister's input, a simple suppository. Thanks to her we didn't have to seek drastic measures, dynamite or the ER plunger technique.
Sister Lou fulfilled a message that came to me that very morning, "Today is the day of salvation. You'll find the cure for the constipation."
That's the first time God had assured me of something as mundane as that, one of the three Cs. But that day we were in need of divine guidance to solve what had become a problem to us, one of Epsie's curses.
Now if Lou could teach me to make fudge the way Epsie did, I would be in debt to her all my life.

LINDSEY'S SIDE OF THE STREET

Our granddaughter Lindsey is very fortunate. She has the ability to always be smiling. Sometimes it confuses her, also. She stated to me a few weeks ago that she always happy and can't understand why she is that way. She commented that she's always positive and enjoys life. It's puzzling to her, and I'm sure it's puzzling to others who habitually walk on the dark side of life.
What she doesn't know is that she inherited some good genes, the happy gene that causes people to always see good, always laugh at things, always think positively. That is a wonderful heritage to have, the happy gene.
I was listening to her tell a story about being with friends at a new park and a photographer happened to drive up and walked directly to the four friends, asking if he could take a picture for the paper of them playing on the new playground equipment. She said that they performed on the equipment in different stances while the photographer took pictures.
We quickly found the picture in the paper and she glowed with joy, as always, delighted with another of life's unexpected surprises. Of course, she immediately began texting all of her friends, spreading her exuberance around, which is her normal habit. What she might not know is that people are attracting to "sunny" individuals and that photographer was attracted the the light in her.
I was thinking about her capacity for happiness and the words to an old song came to my mind which perfected describes Lindsey.

"Grab you coat and grab your hat,
Leave your worries at the doorstep,
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street.

Can't you hear the pitty-pat,
And that happy tune is your step.
Life can be complete
On the sunny side of the street.

I used to walk in the shade
with my blues on parade.
But I'm not afraid,
This rover crossed over.

If I never have a coat
I'll be as rich as Rockefeller,
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street.

It's wonderful just to be in her presence, gleaning some of the joy and happiness, enjoying life like Lindsey does. I pray she will always stay that way. I know she will. She's a teenager and still continues to walk, "Gold dust at my feet on the sunny side of the street." She'll always leave her worries on the door step and cross to the sunny side of the street where she sees joy in everything and entertains positive thoughts, speaking loving words and glows with excitement at every turn of events.
Keep spreading it around, Lindsey. The world needs your sunshine!

THE ZERO DOLLAR MOVIE

Well, our mark-down-angel finally did it. He over did it, in fact.
You know that everyone has a mark-down-angel who goes ahead of them marking down every item they want to buy. It happens for me and it will happen for you, too, if you will begin looking for bargains, markdowns, etc. Then thank him every time and you will see more and more mark-downs come your way.
Several years ago our mark-down-angel showed us that he had provided movies for us at the Dollar Movie Theater in a nearby city. Gramps loves movies and I love to see Gramps happy, so I began to go with him every Sunday to the Dollar Movie Theater, whose price fits right in with my frugal nature. I get that from my father, who could make a dime stretch from here to Alaska. We get to see movies after they leave the first run theaters but before they are available on DVD. We have seen some really great movies that we wouldn't have chosen to see if they had cost us the going rate of eight bucks.
Our habit is that we go to see whatever movie is showing at the Dollar Movie Theater at 12:00 noon after we go to Sam's for their $1.80 meal of a hot dog and a 32 ounce pop. That really fits in with my frugal nature. The entire day of a meal and a movie only costs Gramps a little over five bucks. You know he calls me his cheap date; or, really, maybe he says that he takes me on a cheap date. Whatever.
The mark-down-angel surprised us with a real treat Sunday. Actually it was a very heart warming day because we saw trustworthiness personified in the attendants at the Dollar Movie.
We had arrived at the Theater early because the movie we wanted to see had an 11:00 showing. We had decided to go to Sam's for our hot dog/pop treat after the movie. I think our systems are glued together with the ingredients in those delicious Sam's hot dogs. In fact, we went to a funeral of a friend not long ago and his brother-in-law said during his eulogy tribute that at least Lewis got to have a Sam's hot dog before he died because his brother-in-law made sure of that. That was a very unique eulogy, but one we heartily agreed with.
Back to our story about the mark-down-angel. When we arrived at the Dollar Movie Theater the doors were locked but people were milling around outside waiting for the doors to be unlocked. This was a repeat of an experience from several months ago.
Suddenly a snack bar worker came to the door and said that the manager had to be there before paying customers could come in the door. She said that it would take twenty minutes for him to arrive. We decided to wait because we really wanted to see the movie. We're use to minor inconveniences at our movie adventures, and we make light of them, always getting a big laugh from them. We always say, "What can you expect for a dollar?"
Yesterday we started toward the car where we planned to read the Sunday paper and wait twenty minutes. We sat in the car, and as we gazed at the entrace to the Theater we saw a worker motioning people to come in the door. "That was a quick twenty minutes," Gramps remarked. It had really only been a few minutes but the worker had decided that since the scheduled movies were starting their early showings that all the waiting customers could go into the individual theaters and watch the movies. Then he told us that we could pay our dollar to the person at the cash register on the way out, after the movies were over. That was an unusual offer, that we could pay after the movie. What a guy, trusting ten or fifteen people not to walk out the door after seeing their choice of movies. How refreshing!
Gramps and I visited the rest rooms first (we're senior citizens, you know) and then went to Theater Number 7 where Blindside was showing. There were only a handful of people there because it was so early.
After seeing the great feel-good movie we left Theater Number 7 and headed to the man at the cash register where Gramps was prepared to give his couple of dollar bills to the attendant. Then the real surprise came. The manager said that we owed nothing, that it was the gift of the management for the inconvenience. We thanked him for his generosity and left the Dollar Movie Theater also thanking the mark-down-angel for the bargain of the day. We acted like the manager had forgiven us a hundred dollar fee instead of a dollar fee apiece. Generosity isn't measured by the size of the gift, only by the attitude behind the gift.
We are constantly amazed at the gifts we are given by God and his angels, who always keep us surprised and elated by gifts great and small.
Yesterday's surprising adventure came from the Dollar Movie Theater becoming the Zero Dollar Movie for an hour. Thank you, mark-down-angel. You topped yourself with that unexpected surprise! We eagerly await your next surprise. We are grateful for the anticipation of your unusual gifts. It keeps us expectant, like little kids. That's part of what keeps us so young.

EDAN'S ENCOURAGEMENT

Edan and PopPop and MeMe had a good time making hand puppets out of a craft kit the last time we were visiting. We were amazed at the patience this little three year old had in putting the eyes, ears, noses and button stickers on the puppets. Some of the stickers were very small but she had the patience of an adult in handling them and putting them in the right places.
Eventually the activity grew boring and Edan announced that she didn't want to make the puppets any longer. PopPop remarked that he didn't want to do it alone, that he wanted some help from Edan.
In a voice laced with encouragement Edan said to PopPop, "You can do it by yourself," and turning to leave she finished the encouragement by saying, "Big Guy."
She is a loving and clever child, so much fun to be around. She's the best stress reliever we've found. She's a joy!