My Senior High School Trip to New Orleans

Before I write any more stories about living in the city, my first car, my first job or my first love, my sweet daughter, Tiffany, wanted me to write about my high school Senior Trip to New Orleans in 1959.  So at this point, I'll regress just a little to my senior year. 

I think about high school trips today and the high school trips in the 50's in comparison and find absolutely no similarities to compare.  If any of my former classmates are reading this, and I think there might be one or two, they will no doubt attest to this story I am about to relate. 

There were probably 40 to 45 of us senior class that spring in 1959 who rode that long overnight train ride to New Orleans for our "Senior Trip". Early that morning we boarded the school bus to take us to Sallisaw to the train depot.  We had worked hard all year selling popcorn and goodies to raise enough money for the trip.  All expenses were paid from what we were able to pool together and we received contributions from many good merchants of Muldrow.  Our food, cost of the train tickets, the tour and the zoo we visited were all paid for in advance, and we had our own spending money.  I baby sat for extra money and probably earned around $25.

 Our sponsors, Ms. Rubye and Mr. Peters, presented us with very strict dress codes.  Boys were required to wear suits and ties, dress shoes, and of all things--hats!  Not ball caps but men's dress hats, probably right off their fathers' coat racks.  Girls wore dresses or skirts, medium size high heels or flats and hats as well.  Now picture that--a bunch of teenage boys and girls in suits and their Sunday best dresses riding on a train all night to New Orleans!  Tiffany still laughs when I relate this story to her but she recommended that I include it in my blogs.  I don't think we were allowed to wear slacks or jeans on the train either because arrangements were not made for us to store our things someplace, so you wore what you had on or you'd be carrying around a suitcase all day--I don't think backpacks had been invented yet.  Can you just picture the boys trying to fix their ties, straighten the hats (I don't think all of the boys wore hats, but a few did), and try to look decent after an overnight train ride?  When Tiffany's senior class flew to Hawaii, they dressed appropriately in shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops!  Times have changed.

My Grandmother made me the cutest brown and white checked shirt dress with a matching belt, and I wore white heels, hose and a pretty white hat I bought down at Ms. Emma's Variety Store.  It was a very cute outfit, but I looked more like I was going on a job interview instead of a high school outing.  The funny thing about it all was that we didn't question why--we just did what we were told, and we had fun, dresses and all.  Some of the girls wore full skirts with those big starched petticoats underneath, and as I recall, it was a pretty hot, muggy day in Louisiana when we arrived the next morning.

When we detrained we were transported by a tour bus to a fancy hotel and served a nice hot breakfast in an elegant dining room.  I loved that, especially those fancy eggs and bacon that you didn't dare eat with your fingers!  How in the world do you cut a crispy piece of bacon with a knife and fork anyway?  But "Miss Manners" was watching.  After breakfast our bus picked us up for a tour of New Orleans.  We stopped on Bourbon Street and wandered around while being closely watched, especially the boys.  Didn't want them wandering off  and getting into trouble as boys always manage to do.  After souvenir shopping, we boarded the bus again and headed to museums, churches and a tour of the French Quarter.  We had a cute little tour guide--she also wore a hat and carried a purse.  We visited an above-ground graveyard which really fascinated me at the time.  The tour guide explained to us that they didn't bury people underground in that part of New Orleans because of the water.  I liked that, as I really do not want my old body buried under ground (remember that kids).  Next stop was the zoo where we ate a late lunch and spent the rest of the day just having fun with our classmates, taking pictures and posing for the monkeys--just silly teenage fun!  I saved those pictures for a long time, but I was cleaning house recently and getting ready to move, I may have thrown them out or packed them away somewhere.  I hope I run across them some day so I can include them in this story.

Around dusk we were taken back to the train station, hot, tired and probably a little smelly, but most of us, except those cuddled with boyfriends (strictly forbidden if caught) slept all the way back to train depot in Sallisaw where our school bus was waiting to take us back to school, and to think we did all of this without a cell phone to call ahead and text back and forth, no electronic games, no iPods or portable DVD players to watch movies on, but we were certainly entertained with at least 500 rounds of "Found a Peanut" or "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall"!  Boys can be so annoying. 

I am glad to have shared this story, because after 50 years you forget the funniest things!  Yes, Mr. Dylan, "Times Have Changed"!

Our Guide Lady
in New Orleans

Published by Mom/Nana at 11:17 p.m., June 14, 2011,  because I want to share the funny parts of my growing up with you!
...I love you

Nine Lives and Counting

It was the year of '59 and it was time for me to leave the little dusty town of Muldrow and head out to the big city to make a new life.  I was an excellent typist in school and loved office work and knew that was just what I wanted to do.  After all, Ann Sothern, Private Secretary (1953-1957), was my inspiration.  I wanted my own typewriter, desk, and to wear those white blouses and full black taffeta skirts.  So I enrolled in business school and headed out to Tulsa on a bus with my grandmother to sign up at the business college.  I don't think Gran would ever have let me leave if it had not been for the fact that one of my Gran's twin daughters lived in Tulsa and she felt I would have a family member there if I needed help.

My Grandfather had suffered a heart attack in my junior or senior year of high school, retired from the County,and no longer drove the big yellow tractor.  He gave up fox hunting and the hound dogs had been sold.  My grandparents were getting older, they were no longer able to keep up the big garden, so they sold the land to a cousin of my Grandpa's who built a nice house on it.  The dog kennels were torn down, the black iron kettle rusting and no longer used, Sheena of the Jungle had long since put away her slingshot, and there were no more kitties or even fullgrown cats anymore since the mama cat finally died.  The dolls had been buried for some time now, and the paper dolls were thrown in the trash and burned.  Ricky Nelson's pictures were removed from the bedroom and replaced with Elvis pictures, but they were also removed after I left.   It was time to go and leave those childhood things behind. 

After I left, my grandparents didn't have me around anymore to keep them young and interested in goings-on, so they seemed to age much faster.  I visited when I could, but I didn't have a car for a couple of years and would ride a bus home to visit them.  I didn't like riding the bus--there were too many stops, I had to go downtown Tulsa  to catch the bus, which was usually at night, and by the time I got to Muldrow, there was no one to meet me because they didn't keep the phone after I left, so I had to walk a mile from the bus stop to the house.  The town didn't have any taxi cabs then and probably still doesn't.   I never encountered any problems, however--it was a little safer back then in the 60's, even in downtown Tulsa after dark.  Department stores and corner drugstores were open late and people were always on the streets going to eat or to the movies downtown. 


Grandma & Grandpa in Nursing Home

After about three or four years after I moved away, my grand-parents moved into a nursing home because they were unable to care for themselves.  They liked it at first, but their health continued to deteriorate.  John Wesley Riddle, my paternal grandfather, died on May 10, 1962. I continued to visit my Grandmother as often as I could over the next couple of years.  My paternal grandmother, Jean Ella Doyle Riddle died on September 15, 1964.  I spent many hours with both of them in the hospital sitting by their bed watching them take their last breath and it was very sad for me.  I had never lost anyone before and it was very difficult to see them die that way.

 It was especially difficult for me when my Grandfather died because I loved him dearly.  He was always a quiet, gentle man, except for the time when he practically threw a boy I was dating out of the house.  Grandpa had been sitting on the porch and suddenly walked inside only to find me sitting on Benny's lap.  Poor Benny!  I never saw him again--at least not for a while!  It was the middle of the day and Grandmother was on one of her treks to the store.  She asked what happened mato Benny but Grandpa never told her anything--he just said he had to leave. They were very protective of me--a little bit too much.  Benny and I did get together later on, and we corresponded after he joined the Army and stationed in Alaska. 

That's another interesting story --I had two boyfriends in Alaska, stationed at the same place and at the same time.  Benny was the "former" boyfriend, and Jerry was the "current" boyfriend, and they met one day.  Of course, they would meet--they were both from the same city, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and they had something in common besides living in the same town--ME! 

Then there was the time when I was dating Mickey, the football player from Sallisaw.  We had a date one night and because he had football practice, he had to shower and drive 10 miles to Muldrow, so it was after dark, probably 8:00 or later by the time he arrived, and Grandmother sent him away.  She told him that if he couldn't come at a decent time to take her granddaughter on a date, then he had to leave.  He tried to explain but she wouldn't listen.  I was heart-broken over that incident too, and very embarrassed.  Maybe that's why I didn't have many dates in high school--they were afraid of my Grandparents! 

That's okay, Grandma and Grandpa, I know that you only meant well and were always looking out for me.  I know that you are there in Heaven still looking out for me, and I love you and thank you for the sacrifices you made for me.   I'll never forget what you did for me.

Dressed up for Church







My Wonderful Siblings

 

As I am sitting in front of this laptop thinking about my next story,  I realize it is a very difficult one to write because it's about four great sibilings that I really never knew growing up.  My husband had three older brothers and one younger sister.  I also had three brothers and one sister but only  in comparison.  I only say that because he grew up with his siblings, and I didn't.  I loved our visits with the Ware family and the trips we went shared from time to time and how they would relate hilarious stories of their childhood, stories about their many moves, their Cajan father, the reckless things they did growing up and a little sister thrown  in the midst of four older brothers.  I never knew what I had missed growing up without  brothers and sisters until I heard these stories. 

I have only one picture to share of me with three of my siblings.  That is me blowing the bubble gum, of course, Kathy, Eddie holding Cookie, my dog, and Gary.  Ricky was just a baby at the time and was inside.  This picture was taken in the front yard of our Grandma and Grandpa Riddle's house in Muldrow in 1958.  I have no other pictures of me with all of my siblings together.  There was a note on the back of the picture I had written, "We were all trying to blow bubbles before Dad snapped this picture but I was the only one who was successful".  Well, that's one story I can relate.  Other stories might include the one or two trips when I visisted them in Arkansas and the fun times we had that week walking down the road to the little creek, hanging our barefeet over the side of the stream and harmonizing Everly Brothers' songs.  I don't remember much about that week except that Dad took us to a movie, we went shopping over in VanBuren, and Kathy and I played with Mom's makeup and did our hair.  They boys just played Cowboys and Indians as always.  I never got to share birthdays, Christmases, Easter egg hunts, Thanksgiving or Trick-or-Treating on Halloween, or had anyone to fight with over clothes, TV, use of the telephone, or record selection. 

Ricky, Ed, Kathy, Gary in 1985

Ron, Kathy, Jeri, Me & Ricky 2007

As we grew older, my siblings began to get reacquainted with me once everyone married and started families.   I really owe it all to my sister, Kathy, for doing her best to keep in touch and bringing me back in.   After I moved away to Tulsa, finished business school and started working, I kind of "forgot" I had a family.  Dad was still living at the time and as they would travel from Kansas to Arkansas to visit my Stepmom's family, they would drive through Tulsa in hopes of finding me at home, but somehow they always missed me--I was either at work or out with friends, and would come back to find a note on my apartment door that they had been by to see me.  She never gave up though and continued on her quest that I should become a part of them, because we were a family.  I love her and appreciate so much that she never gave up on me!  I told her that at our last sibling get-together in April. 

Horses, Alaska Adventures & The Duke

This blog is about my brother, Eddie Elmo Riddle, born on December 1, 1947.  As a little boy growing up Eddie loved John Wayne, horses and guns.  Our Dad taught his boys to hunt and fish and to love and appreciate the outdoors--he taught them not to kill for sport, but for food as needed. 

Here is a picture of my siblings showing Eddie with a little plastic pinto horse, and probably dreaming of a day when he would have his own filly to raise, which he did.  I am sure he never really imagined that one day he would have a real horse of his very own.

Eddie was a responsible son, an obedient son, the quiet one.  He still doesn't have a lot to say, but when he does, it is always funny, especially if he is teasing his wife, Sharon.  He married Sharon Felkins in June 1967, a few months before our Dad died in November 1967.  Sharon was 17 when they married and they will be celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary this year.  They've had some great adventures especially when they moved to Anchorage, Alaska in the spring of 1970.  Eddie and his business partners decided to take their business to Alaska.  Eddie was a sheet-rock finisher and  with their first child, Eddie, Jr. (Lil' Ed), Eddie and Sharon  moved to Anchorage to work, bought a log cabin, and rode snowmobiles and hunted bear, caribou, moose, and whatever else there was out there to hunt.   Sharon said they had a lovely view of Mt. McKinley from their dining room window.  Eddie said he loved the Alaskan country and participated in a 100-mile snowmobile race from Anchorage to Talketena.  He didn't win, but finished the race and received a "patch".  He was around 26 or 27 at the time.  They welcomed another baby into their family while living in Alaska--second son John was born on February 22, 1975.



An interesting sidenote about the hunting adventures is how they would be flown to a remote site to hunt for a week to ten days and then picked up at a designated time and place.  It's a good thing my brothers shot what they aimed at since there were no cell phones in those days!   Our youngest brother, Ricky John, went to Alaska and stayed with Sharon and Ed for about four years.  He loves to hunt too! 

Above is a picture of Ed's business partner, Roger, in 1973, after he shot a 400 pound, 7-1/2 ft. black bear.  I cannot imagine keeping your head about you when aiming at something that huge.  It's best to have a good head about you or you might not have one!   



Sharon and Ed returned to Oklahoma around 1976 and currently reside at St. Louis, Oklahoma near their sons, John and Lil' Ed, and wife Christy and granddaughters, Emilee and Allison.   Now, I simply cannot leave out the part about The Duke.  You see, Eddie is a huge John Wayne fan, and you will know that the minute you step into their home--a large painting of "The Duke" adorns the living room wall, painted by an artist from Kansas.  Additionally, there is an entire guest room full of cowboy paraphernalia.  It's quite an adventure just to visit Eddie and Sharon and spend the night in the room I refer to as the John Wayne Room.  Although I haven't had the privilege of sleeping in it yet, because the last time we visited, my sister, Kathy and husband Ron got there first and stayed in it.  One reason I refer to it as the John Wayne Room is because of all the pictures and the life-size poster of The Duke that adorns the inside door of the bedroom.  I remarked the next morning how lucky she was to go to bed looking at John Wayne, but her comeback was, "Yes, I went to bed with The Duke but unfortunately woke up next to Gabby Hayes".  Sorry, Ron, you don't look anything like Gabby Hayes--not yet anyway.  Now if you don't know who Gabby Hayes was kids, he was a bearded, toothless character played by George Francis who appeared as a sidekick in numerous cowboy movies along with Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy and others. 

Thank you, Sharon and Eddie, for providing such interesting "fodder" and pictures of your Alaska adventure for my stories.



Gabby Haynes & Roy Rogers



 

Lil Ed's Own Snowmobile

Our Little Cowboy, My Brother Eddie,  My Hero
I love you!

Bobby Joe, My First Love?



1958 with Cat Boots

Everyone has a "first love" and I was no different.  My first love was a boy named, Bobby Joe.  He was a new kid in school around 1956 or 1957--I really don't remember but I think it was my Sophomore year.  I thought he was just about the cutest boy I had ever laid eyes on at the time.  He had dark hair, cut in the standard "DA" look and beautiful blue eyes.  But my friend, Patty, captured his attention immediately.  So what else is new--boys always liked Patty--she knew how to flirt and garner attention from any boy in school, and besides that she had developed very early with a very nice figure that put all of us"late bloomers" to shame. And by the way, Patty still has a very nice figure--I just saw her last year at a high school reunion.   

But this story isn't about Patty, although she is bound to show up in my stories from time-to-time.  This story is about my first love, Bobby Joe Keene.  He was sweet on Patty and gave her some pictures of himself and she took more pictures of him to add to her collection.  I would ask to see her billfold so I could look at his cute pictures.  Once when she wasn't looking, I "borrowed" one of the pictures of Bobby Joe.  I thought she wouldn't notice because she had so many of him.  And besides, I was in love and desperate.  I took that picture home and taped it over my bed so I could stare at him every night before I fell asleep.  I thought he was even cuter than Ricky Nelson, who was then my favorite person in the whole world.  I made sure that picture was removed if Patty was coming by, but she rarely came over because was from a very large family and always had chores, plus she cleaned homes for several of the school teachers and other ladies in town for extra money, so she was always busy--and had money!  All I had were a few dollars from occasional babysitting jobs that didn't pay much in those days.

All I could think about every single day for that entire year was Bobby Joe.  I was getting desperate for him to notice me, so I asked some girl to tell him that I "liked" him.  I am not sure what she told him but the message in return was to tell me he "hated" me.  You can just about imagine how those cruel words absolutely broke my heart utterly and completely.  I cried myself to sleep that night and cried for days afterwards.  How could he "hate" me?  I never did anything to him other than be totally in love with him.

The story doesn't end there because later that year in our newspaper class, he began to be flirtatious with me and even kissed me one day in class behind the teacher's back.  I don't know if I was still in love with him by then and maybe I was over the puppy love stage, but I still had that picture hidden away.  He was just an adorable little flirt!  I confessed to Patty a few years later at our 10th or 20th high school reunion that I took that picture of Bobby Joe from her wallet and told her I was in love with him.  She said she knew--she was a good friend.  She didn't ask for the picture back though and I really don't know what happened to that picture. 

So what happened to Bobby Joe?  I really don't know--he moved on to another town somewhere, another school, probably broke more hearts, but I would like to find him because I am very curious to see how he looks these days.  That once dark hair may now be gray, and he's probably wearing glasses over those pretty baby blues, and fat--yes, let's say he is very fat now--and bald--and has five kids and 15 grandchildren!

Here are some pictures of me around 1958.  I am sitting on our car wearing my gold high heels, and posing in new slacks, and in one I am with my little dog, PeeWee.  Sorry you missed out, Bobby Joe--I really would like to have been your girlfriend if only a short time! 

Gary, Our Own Dennis the Menace

This is a story about my little brother, Gary Gene Riddle, born on November 4, 1951, the third child born to Mildred and Elmo Riddle.  Gary was a beautiful baby and as a toddler, his hair turned the most beautiful shade of auburn I have ever seen and of course, he had the freckles to go along with the red hair.  He was definitely the personification of a true "Dennis the Menace" too.  I remember my sister, Kathy, asking Mom once if perhaps they had brought the wrong child home from the hospital--could the nurses have gotten them mixed up somehow?  You see, he was a little different from the other two children, Kathy and Eddie.

Gary loved to play Cowboys and Indians with his older brother, Eddie, when Kathy wasn't trying to dress the boys as little girls and have tea parties.  She got away with it when he was two or three, but as he became older, I am sure he wouldn't have any part of putting on that dress and wig.  

This is a picture of Gary and their dog, Jill.  It looks like Jill might be getting ready for a bath in that tin tub. Another picture I found of Gary just being cute and "innocent".  Eddie said Gary did get his share of spankings but spankings didn't have much of an affect on him anyway!

I don't know much about his young school years but I can only imagine he never sat still in class and was always in trouble, but you have to admit his school pictures were very cute and he finally did grow into those big ears!

Gary didn't finish high school and was drafted into the Army in 1970 and sent to Vietnam.  He worked on helicopter maintenance and was a gunner on the helicopter.

The Vietnam war changed this beautiful auburn-haired boy.  He went to Vietnam as one person and came home another, as so many of our young men did. 

Gary's health deteroriated over the next few years after he came back in 1974.  He was a heavy smoker and continued to drink, but I believe the result of his bad health was Agent Orange used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam war that damaged his lungs and caused prolonged deteroriation to his body.

  

Gary married Mary Canada after he returned home and they had two daughters.  However, he and Mary divorced after 10 years and he had very little contact with his daughters after that.  Gary became a bit of recluse and drank more heavily but lived with Mom for a time.  Gary was able to buy some land out in the woods, and built a little one-room house to live in until he passed away on October 4, 2001, one month before his 51st birthday.  

He finally began receiving his disability benefits two years before he died. 

Our youngest brother, Ricky John, officiated Gary's military service on a very cold and rainy day in October 2001.  His older daughter, Mary, was given the American Flag that draped his casket. Our Mom preceded him in death only two years before, but before she died she helped buy a small plot of land for him on which he built that little one-room house. 

I still miss my beautiful auburn-haired, blue-eyed little brother and think about him a lot. He would call me from time-to-time just to check in and let us know he was okay.  I miss the country "twang" in his voice and the fact that he corrected me one time when I was talking about guitar strings.  He told me them ain't "strings", they're "strangs".   Oh well, he knew better than I when it came to "strangs" and "thangs"!  Gary was pure country but he served his Country well!

Gary, Mary,Heather & Little Mary

Mildred Bernice McKinney Riddle, My Mom



Pin Up Girl 1956



Mildred Bernice McKinney Riddle was my beautiful Stepmother, but I called her "Mom" after I was grown.  My Grandmother didn't allow me to call her Mom or Mommy when I was small--I don't remember what I called her--I probably didn't call her anything.  My birth mother, Opal Nadine Martin Riddle, died in January of 1942, shortly after I was born--she was only 18.  My father, Elmo John Riddle, married Mildred McKinney on November 22, 1944.  She was born on January 29, 1926, so she was around 18 when they wed.  She was born and raised around Greenwood, Arkansas.  She was a very pretty girl with beautiful long strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.  Quite a beauty!  I don't know anything about how they met or how they dated, but I know they loved each other very much, and had many good years together.  Mildred was always very slim and kept her youthful figure even until she passed away at the age of 76 on July 5, 1999, after a year-long battle with lung cancer.

Together they raised four children:  Kathyrn Bernice born on November 7, 1945; Eddie Elmo on December 1, 1947; Gary Gene on November 5, 1951, and Ricky John on November 30, 1955.  They lost two babies immediately after birth--Larry Dean on September 15, 1953, and a little girl, Brenda Gail on January 19, 1960.

Mildred was a loving and kind mother.  I adored her when I was child and was always hanging onto her when they came to visit, which vexed my grandmother greatly I believe, and I loved her even more after I was grown and had children of my own.  She was always their "Grandma" too.  I never heard her raise her voice to any of the kids or to me.  She was always so nice to me.  I wanted her to be my Mother so very badly.  She asked my Dad to please take me from his parents and let her raise me as her own, but Daddy said by the time they had married, my paternal grandparents were "too attached" to me.  

Mildred became a young widow at the young age of 41, with three boys at home to raise, when my father passed away in 1967 after a long battle of Lou Gehrig's disease.  She had never worked outside of the home and it was a very difficult couple of years for her, but she found work in Fort Smith as a motel maid.  She worked very hard to keep the house and food on the table for the two younger boys, Gary and Ricky.  My oldest brother, Eddie, had been working for some time to provide for his brothers and mom during dad's illness.  Eddie married Sharon Felkins in June 1967 shortly before Daddy died in July 1967.  Kathy was married with a small child by that time and lived in Great Bend, Kansas.  I was married and living in Tulsa, but had no children when Daddy died.



Mom, Dad & Gary at 2



Mildred did remarry some years later after she met and dated Norman Kelly around 1972.  She became Mildred McKinney Riddle Kelly, but had dropped the Riddle name by then and went byKelly.  My children remember her as "Grandma Kelly".  Honestly, I don't remember much about Norman except that he was very nice but suffered from migraine headaches.  He had been divorced--not widowed.  I remember Mom telling the kids that Norman was okay but "he's not your Dad!"  Well, that's a very true statement--no one could ever take the place of my Daddy in her heart or ours.  Mildred and Norman didn't stay married too long and they divorced.  Norman passed away a few years after Mildred did--he had remarried by that time.



Mom, Dad & Kids
A nephew is also in Mom's lap
along with Ricky.



Mom & Baby Gary 1951

I believe that my brothers and sister know that I loved "Mom" very much and so did our Daddy's brothers and sisters. They thought the world of her because Daddy loved her so much!    She would have been a wonderful mother to me, in spite of what families thought of stepmothers in those days--they weren't all like Cinderella's stepmother--some were very nice, and she was at the top of the list! 

Love, Mom & Nana