A Few Parting Shots from a Dying Town

While I was in Marshall, Oklahoma, I decided to take a walk "around town" to see what I could see. I was in a melancholy mood, it being the day after Grandpa's funeral, and the condition of the town didn't help. It occurred to me that my Grandpa's life was pretty closely related to the life of Marshall, where he lived his entire life except for the time he spent on a Navy ship during WWII. As I was blown up and down the empty roads by a strong Spring wind, I thought of Don Huffer's life - a farmer, a sailor, a husband, a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, a church-goer, Republican, traveler, a man who worked hard, made big plans, and loved life. This town, established around 1890 and barely hanging on to life through the post-office, co-op store and one last church, was only a little over 30 years older than he. How must he have felt seeing it pass away in front of him?

These photos are a few from my bittersweet tour of Marshall last month. I'm still clinging to my roots buried deep in the red, red soil of northern Oklahoma.

The family church - weddings, funerals, confirmations, and Christmas pageants.

Marshall school - est. 1904, closed 1988

The old fire truck, used for the parade on Prairie City Days. (They do have a modern one.)

One of the empty Co-op grain elevators, the train doesn't come through here any more.

Part of Main Street - plate glass of the bar broken out, small grocery closed for good.

Destruction and Life.

Empty playground.

Among the broken, dead brambles - LIFE and COLOR - roses

Little red wagon along the backyard I used to play in - it was my great-grandmother's house once.

Irises my Grandpa planted along the back of his workshop.

Scrap metal wheels

 

Town billboard in the middle of the wide Main Street, news: Huffer funeral.

 

I found an entry for this little town on Wikipedia, obviously written by someone who lives, or grew up, there. The part that spoke to me said, "Back in the town's prime between 1900 and 1980 it had two gas stations, a hotel, 5-dime store, drug store, cafe, bar, grocery store, laundromat, hardware store, lawyer office, bank, doctor office, blacksmith, barber shop, beauty shop, fire station, arcade, movie theatre, two car dealers and farmers' co-op. Today all that is left is the co-op and post office. Where main street was once lined with cars on Saturdays is now pretty much a ghost town. Most of the buildings downtown are, or have, fallen down or empty. During the 1980s the oil bust happened and the town hasn't been the same ever since."


To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die;
      A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 

A time to kill, And a time to heal;
      A time to break down, And a time to build up; 

A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
      A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 

A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
      A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 

A time to gain, And a time to lose;
      A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 

A time to tear, And a time to sew;
      A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 

A time to love, And a time to hate;  A time of war, And a time of peace.  —Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Birthday Girl!

 

My oldest daughter, Cecelia turned 9 on Sunday. She was a good sport about not having a big party this year. She'd wanted a Hannah Montana party, and I had some cute, fun ideas on that front, but it was not to be. Nick and I were extremely busy all weekend with OHOP's monthly Awaken the Bride conference. Nick led worship on Friday night, Saturday morning and Sunday morning (I sing on his team.) He also taught classes on Sat. afternoon and Sun. afternoon. It was a crazy time to think about poor Cecelia's birthday. She was thankful, though, that her birthday was on Sunday and glorified and worshiped God with excellence! Fortunately, Grandma always remembers to send birthday gifts early, so she had a gift to open first thing after church. (Thank you Grandma & Grandpa; you are awesome!) Her sister, Keliah, couldn't wait to give her gift of a pink Princess Disney hat, either. That evening, she and I got to go out (just the 2 of us!) to see Alice in Wonderland - sharing the tub of popcorn and large Cherry Coke for supper. We had fun together and planned to have our family cake party to celebrate on Monday evening.

After much speculation and looking at other guitar cakes online, I just made up my own ideas with what I had on hand to create her pink guitar cake. (Notice the C.C. initials!) Nothing too fancy, but perfect for our little gathering with 2 kinds of ice cream. The remains were breakfast this morning. Anyway, I'm so proud of my little girl, getting so grown up (but not too grown up.) She is truly a gift from God and I'm so humbled to be her mom.

The gifts from us were pretty simple this year. Books, a couple toys, candy and clothes. As you can see below, Sabina was certain that the cute puppy was hers!  Today, she even got to stretch that birthday joy for another day with the arrival of a package from my parents - Granny & Papa. Woo-hoo! I'm determined to enjoy letting her be a little girl for these next couple of years. I don't want her rushing in to growing up too fast. These years are precious. Besides, once you are grown up it lasts for the rest of your life! That's not so fun. Even though I try to impress a sense of responsibility and contribution upon all my children, I also want them to have lots of time to just be KIDS. This is the time for the games, books, songs, artwork, and dances that will truly make up the woman Cecelia will be. And, please God, help me be the mother that Cecelia needs.