Ken graduated from NTSC on May 26, 1955. Two days later, May 28, 1955, we were married.
We are asking ourselves, “How did time pass so quickly?” My Dad told me, “The older you get, the quicker the years go by.” I believe that is true!
We were in love when we married. Through the years, our love has grown each year. It can truly be called never-ending love.
Our first home was a tiny garage apartment chosen because it was two blocks from Hardin Simmons University, and I could walk to classes. Ken had a military college deferment which expired upon graduation. He knew he was going into the Army in the fall when I would return to NTSC (North Texas State College) to finish my Bachelor’s Degree.
Ken went to Fort Chafee, Arkansas, for basic training. He was then stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia.
I finished my college work and graduated on August 23, 1956. We bought a 1956 Chevrolet and took off for Augusta. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon. By Monday afternoon, I had a job teaching in North Augusta, South Carolina. There was an extreme teacher shortage. I was lucky. Military wives were not employed by local businesses because they were temporary residents.
We had a spacious garage apartment in a beautifully landscaped back yard. It was different from dry west Texas. We could sit on our tiny porch and enjoy the flowers.
I taught eighth grade English. How did someone with a degree in home economics end up teaching English? I had a minor in English and the administration obtained an emergency certificate for me. We bought a used black and white TV for $50. Our little apartment was the site of pot luck suppers most weekends as we hosted members of Ken’s unit. We ate and watched the little TV.
The next fall found us both teaching in Fort Worth. We were thrilled that we were assigned to the same school. On the first day of in-service, we learned that it was a mistake, but the administration thought it was too late to change our assignments. We were the first married couple to teach in the same school in the Fort Worth ISD.
Our oldest son, Kevin, was born in 1958, at Harris Hospital. I stayed home and became a full-time Mom. One teaching salary was stretched thin. Ken took an evening job at a service station from 5 to 9 PM.
Working two jobs did not seem to be a long term solution. Ken bought a bulldozer in Abilene, and worked on weekends until school was out. We moved to Abilene in 1959, and he began doing soil conservation work with the dozer. We built a house and settled in. Our son, Charles, and daughter, Cynthia, were born in Abilene. Abilene was not a good place for Kevin’s and my asthma and allergies. We moved to Tucson. Ken taught at the University of Arizona and got his Masters Degree in Vocational Evaluation Rehabilitation. We all felt better and still love the desert.
We went from one extreme to another. Ken accepted a job with Texas Rehabilitation Commission to set up a vocational evaluation center in Harlingen, Texas. We moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1969. We rented a large house with citrus groves all around. I taught in a small school which the boys attended. Cynthia went to private daycare in Harlingen.
In 1972, TRC, transferred Ken to their central office in Austin. We bought a house in a new subdivision in Georgetown. The children grew up in that house. I was teaching at Georgetown High School when all three of the children graduated.
In 1987, we went back to the Rio Grande Valley for Ken to start an evaluation program at Pan American University. (Now, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) I began teaching with the La Feria ISD. We kept looking at an old house in La Feria for sale. The realtor insisted it could not be rented. The owner had started Interstate Fruit and Vegetable. He was the first to ship valley produce to Europe after WW11. The house had been vacant since the man’s death. Ken finally talked directly to his son in Dallas and told him that we would clean up the grounds and keep up maintenance on the house. He rented it to us. We enjoyed the old house. It was surrounded by citrus trees, palm trees, and flower beds. We had a yardman who lived behind the garage.
The house had a flat roof. One night we were awakened by a loud noise over the master bedroom. It was like heavy footsteps. They faded as they went to the front of the house. The yard man heard them too. He was searching the yard when Ken got outside. He was halfway up a palm tree looking on the roof. The yard was well lit by guard lights. They were no footprints, human or animal, in the yard. It happened again in a few months. There was nothing to indicate what it was. As it kept happening, we began to call it Mr. Aiken’s ghost. We just said, “There he is again,” and went back to sleep.
We eventually bought property west of Harlingen and built a house. Ken sodded coastal Bermuda grass and began raising registered Brangus cattle. In 1999, we began looking upstate for retirement property. Our retirement property west of Georgetown was now surrounded by Sun City, and Georgetown had become north Austin. We finally bought property north of Stephenville. It is close to our families and Fort Worth. We made a few expansions and changes and copied the Valley house. We moved into it in December 2000, and have lived here ever since.
Our three children are nearby. We have five granddaughters, a grandson by choice, and eight great-grandchildren.
We are on a private road and are blessed with wonderful neighbors.
