Yesterday

Yesterday, I was a Senior in High School and I had big plans. As long as I can remember, I have been able to draw just about anything. I also have a love of type/fonts. And finally, I LOVE music, especially music from the 70s. My plan was to graduate, pack my stuff and move to Macon, GA --home of Capricorn Records and most notably, the Allman Brothers Band. Other artists recording at Capricorn were Wet Willie, The Charlie Daniels Band, and The Marshall Tucker Band--I loved them all. I was going to walk into Capricorn and ask for ANY job they might have. ANY JOB! I just wanted to be in the building and I didn't care if I had to work for free and sleep on the floor. I wanted to be where I thought the center of 70s Southern Rock was happening. During that same period, there was an artist by the name of James Flournoy Holmes that had done several album covers by the aforementioned artists. I hoped to meet him and maybe be able to show him some of my stuff. I just knew he would look at my work and say: "We gotta hire this guy!"

I graduated from High School and never made the trip to Macon. Seems like yesterday, but it was 35 years ago.

Yesterday, I graduated from OSU-Okmulgee with a diploma in Commercial Art. There were 75 of us that began the program; 12 of us finished. There were three of us that quickly became friends and throughout our time at OSU, it was a contest to see who could outdo the other, whether it was our class assignments or the pranks we pulled on each other, as well as our classmates. We graduated at the top of the class--I was number three--with very high hopes and prospects. Two of us made the decision to open our own design studio rather than working for someone else. We were going to make it big and we were going to make a LOT of money.

We did pretty well for a while, but making a long story short, we weren't very good money managers and ended up closing the doors to go our separate ways. It seems like yesterday, but it was 32 years ago.

Yesterday, I met this girl. I was painting a window sign on one of the businesses in the town where I grew up. She and some of her friends stopped to watch. "Did you draw that freehand?" "How do you make those lines so straight without a ruler" "Are those special brushes?" I answered all their questions, but the whole time I'm thinking: She is CUTE!! I've got to get a phone number.

I got the number; we dated for a couple of years. We got married in May of 1980--over 30 years ago--but it seems like yesterday. (She's still cute!)

Yesterday, we went to the hospital for the birth of our first son, Ryon. A few days later, we were back at the hospital for the birth of his brother, Alex. Ryon is now in college; Alex graduates from High School this Spring. It seems like yesterday...

Yesterday. It goes by pretty quick. Actually, it FLIES by! There were a lot of things I intended to do, but never did. Some of them, I'll get around to; some I'll never have the opportunity to do again. The things I did accomplish--those are good. I wouldn't trade them for anything. That's yesterday.

I still have today and tomorrow, which opens all kinds of possibilities. Sometimes I take on too much and get bogged down in the details of all the stuff to be done. But all that stuff is really surface.

One of the most most important things I need to work on is today...now. Yesterday, I got married, and became a father. Those things are way more important than all the other stuff. Sadly, I don't do those jobs very well sometimes. Today, I'm going to try to do better, but I better get busy...because tomorrow, today will be yesterday...

Many Christmases Ago...

We met the summer of 1977 (I may tell that story some other time)--actually we sort of already knew each other from high school, but had never spoken to each other. I met her parents for the first time that summer. Her father told her: "You will never date THAT!" Looking back, I can understand his sentiment/desire to protect his daughter from a very hairy, "hippy-looking" guy.

We didn't date for about six months, i.e. we weren't allowed to go anywhere alone, but her parents did allow me to come to their house. And so, for the next six months, we sat, watched TV, and sat. We were eventually allowed to go to the local Sonic and get something to drink, but we had to come right back to the house. Keep in mind now, I was in college and she was still in high school.

I went to school year-round, so I would come home on the weekends, spend most every moment at her house or follow her to the high school football games (she was a cheerleader), etc. We wrote to each other most every week, and talked on the phone when I had money for the pay phone (remember those?).

We talked about breaking up once...actually I was doing the talking, she did the crying. We didn't break up.

I graduated from college, started and shut down a graphic design/sign business with a buddy from school, then moved back to the town where we both grew up. I took a job with a sign company in Tulsa. She finished high school and took a job with an oil company in Tulsa, eventually becoming a systems administrator some years after we married, but I'm jumping ahead.

It was a Saturday, as I recall. We were going shopping for Levis for me; can't remember if she was looking for anytyhing in particular or not. The mall we were in also had a couple of jewelry stores and for whatever reason, we found ourselves in one of them...looking at wedding rings! By this time we had been dating a couple of years and her dad was over being REALLY mad about the situation and had settled on "resigned" at that point. We had talked about marriage, but really hadn't made any plans. There we were, two "kids" looking at wedding rings and both of us saying: "WOW! That's a lot of money!" I can't remember how long we were in the store, but when all was said and done, we had made a down payment on a wedding band for me and an engagement ring/wedding ring set for her...all three rings came to around $500. How in the world was I ever going to pay for that?!

We went home that day and honestly, I don't remember telling our parents about our purchase, but I'm sure we did. We didn't have a wedding date set or anything. Neither of us owned a home--in fact, we were both still living with our parents; but we had rings or at least the payment on rings for the time being.

By Christmas in 1979 I had made enough payments to get the engagement ring. I took it home, showed it my mom and then proceeded to wrap it. Now, I couldn't just wrap up the little box; she'd know what it was right away. So, I wrapped the ring box, put it inside a bigger box and wrapped it; put the bigger box inside a BIGGER box and wrapped it; then...put the BIGGER box inside a B I G G E R box. She'd never guess what I had gotten her.

I remember watching her open the present. She had no idea what was in that big box. Her family stood around and watched as she unwrapped and opened box after box until she got to the smallest one. By then, I could tell she was getting excited; so where her sisters. A little box that size could mean only one thing: WE'RE OFFICIALLY ENGAGED! She jumped up and down; there was a lot of squealing (that may have been me) and crying (I think that was her Dad).

In January, we purchased a 900 square foot house about a mile from her parent's home. I moved in and begin renovating it; she would come over evenings after work and we would paint and wallpaper what would become OUR home for the next 12 years. We were married on May 31, 1980.

We live in a different town now; we have two boys--one in college, the other in Junior High, and a dog. She still wears the same engagement ring from 31 Christmases ago. I thought she was pretty then; I think she's pretty now. She says she hates to have her picture taken, but I do it anyway.

Merry Christmas, Sweetie! I love you.