BLOGAHOMA

Reconstructing your house after a fire is done by Restoration companies. The company we are using, Dutil,  is a family owned business located in nearby Lawton. We gave them the go ahead a week and a half ago and it has been cleaning, construction and painting ever since. We escape during the day but have our breakfast and dinner at home if we can. For us it is hopeful to seeing the house being brought back to its former tidy mountain bungalow self. I admit I have been taxed further than I had ever imagined during the past year. Pneumonia (me), Cancer (my husband), chemo, extreme chemo reactions, fire, death of a friend and days and days of 100+ heat and now reconstruction. It is my spirit now that needs the most restoration.

Some of our friends are dealing with the fire aftermath while others the loss of loved family member, not related to the fire. And when you are all in it together, this misfortune, you are all needy as well. So how does one lift oneself up? Can’t say, but I am determined to get through the next hurdles and not feel depressed or completely downtrodden. I picked happy colors for the house and am now sitting in my hot buttered rum freshly painted great room. And yes, I am writing a new post and perhaps I will start an art piece of some sort as creating makes me happy. My expectation is not extreme happiness but not being sad will suit me for now.

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.
Hermann Hesse

Photo of the Big Rock Fire as taken by the Lawton Constitution Newspaper.

How often have heard that question? The most common answers are:  they would grab photos of the family and important papers if forced to run from a burning house and medications. When I had asked myself that question in the past I was sure I wouldn’t grab family pictures even though I love my family. On June 23, 2011 that very situation arose. We were told to evacuate NOW! as ashes fell from the sky on our burning mountain road. This is what I grabbed:

• dogs & dog food
• Cooler with water and soft drinks
• purse with credit cards,
• my ipod with my music
• digital camera
• Flip video camera
• macbook pro (which actually does hold a lot of family photos)
• Cellphone
• change of underwear, shorts and blouse
• pajamas
• tooth brush, tooth paste
• my inhaler and vitamins
• a second pair of flip flops

And I put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher and ran it and the disposal, as if we were going on a weekend get away.

The rest, well I left it all behind: a life time of art, photo albums, antiques, family mementos… left behind. After being away for a day and watching from the distance the with flames shooting up all around the mountain road that we lived on I had a moment to reflect on whether or not  had chosen the “right stuff”.  Well here’s the rub… had I selected the photo of my dad as a bus driver, the Weller vase with sycamore leaves, Michael’s painting of the rocks, the oldest stapler I own, my children’s baby teeth, my baptismal record or that pair of fused glass earrings it would have put me in funk about having to leave the others behind. Had we lost it all (the fire chief said it was touch and go) and I had taken one of those major, meaningful pieces of my life and history I would forever have the other pieces, my mother’s picture at sixteen, the Caddo artist, Silver Moon’s, bison painting, the Neva Clog deco stapler or my first grade report card, my portfolio of character art, popping in and out of my dreams allowing the sadness to creep in every time I looked at the saved piece. So what I took was living things, tech things and mundane useful things. I didn’t even take nice clothing.

Whether our house would burnt to the ground went from not believable to almost certain in a days time as the flames engulfed the mountain. At night I lay awake picturing every nook and cranny of our house and all the treasures and how they were the last time I saw them. So many treasures. And I thought what if it all goes. Would I really want to return to the Park? I needed my neighbors just where they were. How could I stand it losing it all and yet be in the same place. That is how my brain works. I came up with several scenarios of starting over, rebuilding on Big Rock Rd, in Medicine Park but only if my favorite neighbors were still there,  moving to El Reno near where my daughter was relocating, moving back to Norman, OK where we have other special friends.

None of that is necessary now. We are singed and charred but still standing and solid. Thanks to our guardian angels.. the volunteer fire departments of SW Oklahoma. So it’s clean up time.

Next time you are asked the question, maybe the answer, like mine,  will be “to let it all go”.

Disclaimer: After a 6 month chemo-rama for Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma we’ve learned a few things not gleaned from outside sources these are personal findings. Some are universal other, like I said, are more of who we are.

Chemo-Sabe: I didn’t know what it was going to be like. Was I going to be there for every one of the 24 treatments, 6 reviews with the doctor and 3 scans? As it turned out…. yes. How was I useful? … In an emotional, stand-by-your-man way that counted and and as an extra voice and ear to ask as well as listen.

Friends + Family + Facebook : It turns out that the those that said “we will be there for you” really were, practically for getting us to and from on heavy chemo days but also to ask how things were going and warmly listening. Empathy, prayers, prayer blankets, laughs, good thoughts all counted.

Nurses and Staff at The Leah Fitch Cancer Center of Lawton, OK: Skilled, positive, responsive and caring.

Self Education: Learning all we could about Non Hodgekins Lymphoma, the chemo drugs & their side effects, the blood work and nutrition.

Nook Color eReader: My husband, Michael, got his for Christmas. He is mega reader so he could throw several books on it to read. If he got tired of reading there was crossword puzzles that we completed together, magazine to leaf through on it, or a movie he could watch on it. Note: they do have cable TV in every cubicle but that soon lost its appeal for us.

A Sketch Pad: That was for me. I found I could get lost in drawing and then at the end have something that I could give someone including the nurses on staff.

Fishing Therapy: Monday (and sometimes Tuesday) chemo, Tuesday and Wednesday side effects, by Thursday or Friday Michael went fishing.

Friday night at the Park Tavern: Not for drinking but for socialization.

Rewards: A lunch once and a while, a Medicine Park event, a Marauder shoot out, a cultural trip to OKC for an art show or two.

Not ever losing sight of who we are.

It was right before the Mayor’s Blues Ball when we found out that Michael had Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We did not know the extent as all the tests weren’t back yet. We (the family) went into factoid overdrive as we tried to learn as much as we could about this cancer. We did everything but cry. No tears. It was time to get ready for what was to come next. My husband, Michael, had just gone through his biopsy and had a large slash on the side of his neck with the still visible stitches. But we had VIP status at the Ball because Michael had donated his graphic work in the studio to the Blues Ball. We went knowing there would be questions. We had already told family and some close friends in the Park but we knew that a whole slew of Medicine Park folks would be out enjoying the event. And so it happened that it was also Michael’s Lymphoma coming out news.

I was still shaky. It had been a whirlwind week of lab tests and biopsy with appointments nearly every day. We didn’t want to distress anyone but we also wanted to still be part of the community. Secrets are not what our little community is about. Between sets we told folks. My friends wanted me to get up and dance but I wasn’t ready yet on the first night. I was more somber than usual and was fine until a friend thought I needed a hug and then I cried a little. And when on the last night Janiva Magness sang “Save Me” I broke up again.

The months have passed and chemo has begun. The Southwest Oklahoma Cancer Treatment Center is a gift that funding drives like Spirit of Survival has help to build. And yes, we donated our time and our art to this drive for several years never even considering that we would have to use the facility. Everyone who has been through cancer treatment told us that it was of utmost importance that we trust and connect to the *treatment team. Our team led by Dr. Nimeh and the clinical research nurse Suzy McCoy has been the top. Michael’s examination room was donated by Arvest Bank, the president of which, David Madigan we consider a friend.

And as far as the town is concerned we are surrounded with sincere prayers and offers of help if and when we need it. So far we have needed some rides to and from appointments and a few grocery pick-ups. One cannot help but to love Medicine Park folks. This is not to dismiss the abundance of well wishes from family and friends living a distance away who still find ways of helping by prayers and deeds.  And how could we have faced it without our adult children who have flown in to stand by their Dad and help us through the maze of information and finding financial assistance.

Michael is one of only 50 in he US in the clinical trial known as LYM 66 which combines 3 chemo drugs, Rituxan, Bendamustine and Bortezomib, for the first time in the treament of newly diagnosed Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We are doing it for Michael but also in hopes of a cure. The picture is of Michael on the Thursday before Halloween as he climbs in his chair dressed in his Marauder shirt and hat ready to face down chemo. We have six months to get through this and we are making the best of it. Lymphoma’s color is lime green which is the color of our bracelets that read “Say it, Fight it, Cure it”

*Note: Recently we’ve gotten to know a few more names of the team including Monica our chemo nurse who is so attentive at her job and has the most pleasant way of explaining what is happening and Kelly in finance.

The  “Big Pasture” Offers to the Homeseeker and Business Man a Golden Opportunity..

So reads the headline of enticement in 1907 to the last land available in Oklahoma, Grandfield.

Looking Out toward the "Big Pasture" from Grandfield

Yesterday we met with the City Manager, Randy Clark to go over the details of a brochure that highlights the history of the area that Michael is putting together for the town. I’m not sure what I was expecting but what we got was a guided tour, blending of history and the present with running dialog as Randy drove us around in the Pick-up. Grandfield is located 15 miles from the Texas line in Southwest Oklahoma. Grandfield is small city that was center of thriving farm activity in its heyday. Today it is still a pretty town in the plains where you can see the Wichita Mountains in distance. I have to admit (despite the little downtown having several vacancies) I really had a good feeling about it. A few of the buildings have been recently restored a sign of a city government that cares. Grandfield has two distinct sides of town, the historic with houses going back to early 1900’s and the “newer” ranch style neighborhood where houses are from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

I am here to tell you that there is again “Opportunity” in Grandfield. Let’s say for instance you have an in home business and want to locate to a small town and away from the hubbub, you can get a home site for a dollar right near parks and schools, ready to build with utilities in place. That’s right a dollar. And it is still convenient to larger cities like Wichita Falls, TX and Lawton, Ok for big shopping. What if you don’t want to build but want a nice house? Lovely ranch styles between 2000 and 2400 square feet sell between $70,000 and $80,000, half the cost of houses found in neighboring areas. The old houses when they come up for sale much lower. Randy recently auctioned a 1920’s brick bungalow and got $10,000 and it sits on 4 lots!  It was bought by someone in Alaska.

How about opening a grocery store. There is a building that has been completely updated with freezers and coolers and whatever a store needs that is looking for a tenant. Grandfield is willing to let a grocery business move in for FREE! What’s the catch? The town will benefit from the tax revenue. And there are other vacant buildings to consider for a business.

We stopped in at the local From My Heart Bakery/ Restaurant that had just established itself in town. Being that it was midweek they had a pretty good gathering. We went for the garden salad with chicken. Or as Randy said “give me one of those salads and drag it through the garden”. (It was loaded with fresh vegetables). And of course we couldn’t turn down the mile high lemon meringue pie.

So how do you find out more? Call Randy and he can fill you in. Randy Clark is very knowledgeable about real estate, since he was a contractor for years. He received his college education in political science (I believe) at Cameron University so being city manager now fits right in. He is also a successful rancher and that was born in Grandfield and most assuredly believes in Grandfield. Peeked you interest? Call and make an appointment or go and take a look see and don’t forget to stop by for pie! And tell them Muriel from Medicine Park sent you!
Serious Seekers
City Hall
223 S Main Street, Grandfield, OK 73546
(580) 479-5215 email Randy