1905-1992

In 1904, Edwin Andrew and Elizabeth Matilda Spriggs Clump lived on a farm bordering the

Cimarron River in a frame house in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. At that time, the

family included Ed and Elizabeth, children Carl, Leah, Hazel, Tom, Janice, possibly Pearl

and May Crook, and Ed's stepmother, Rachel Vrendenberg Clump. Mable, the oldest

daughter was married.

It was then that mother Elizabeth had a huge surprise. She learned that at the age of forty she was

to have her seventh child in October.

Sister Janice wrote that her mother was great in creating games for her little children so she gave

all of them, even the four year old baby, Janice, who had lost her place as 'baby of the family', a

part in choosing a name for the wee one. On October 4, 1905 Blanche Ruth was born. Just a few

months before, her sister Mabel gave birth to her first daughter, Avis. Therefore, Blanche was

born an auntie and very quickly was referred to as "The Little Red Aunt."

Ed and Elizabeth Clump homesteaded during the run of 1889. Blanche wrote, "In the community

where my parents lived, there was no Community Building for groups to gather. My father

arranged to buy, pay for, and bring lumber from Guthrie, Oklahoma to construct a two room

building with an attic. By prearrangement, neighbors helped with the construction and in return

the building was used for groups that needed to meet together. Church meetings and dances were

held there, also. As planned from the beginning, this building, at an agreed upon time, became

the home of my parents and my birthplace.

In later years, a two story house was built using the sandy soil from my parents land to make

concrete blocks. I was a very small child, but I remember mother giving me the important job of

going to tell the working men when it was time to come to dinner."

Also, "When a small child I enjoyed making 'mud pies'. For dishes we used any broken pieces of

dishes we could !nd. We used seeds from weeds and leaves to put in our pies." She remembered

cousins Atha and Avis coming to visit. She says, "Atha and I would go get the dolls and play

together while Avis would rather sit in the living room with the older people and read or listen to

all the gossip."

When Blanche was old enough to go to school, she walked 1 1/2 miles to a one room school

house. They used slates, chalk and erasers for school work and sat on long benches. She said that a

big stove burned good size chunks of wood in the winter to help keep them warm. They had the

usual snow storms but they didn't stay home because of bad weather. Her mother took heavy

men's socks and put them over her shoes. One of her favorite teachers, T. T. Gentry, was a well

educated man who loved music. They had musical programs, a Literary Society and produced

Christmas programs for the community.

Blanche remembered that when she was about 8 years old, her step- grandmother Clump died.

Her brother Carl and his wife Phenie lived close by and they needed to be notifed. Her parents

sent her the half mile over the path in the woods to their home with the message. When she

arrived, she just stood around and said nothing; all the while they were wondering why she was

there. She finally told them that grandmother had died.

Blanche wrote," Our father always owned sheep. We enjoyed watching the young lambs run,

jump and scamper up and down a sandy hill at the end of the lane where we children liked to

play. As we could not keep fresh meat, we were always anxious for the lambs to grow big enough

to kill and mother would boil it and make the best noodles anyone ever ate. We had no car until

years later. We rode in a 'spring wagon' (seat with springs under it) to town, Kingfisher, sixteen

miles from home where dad took apples, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon and honey to sell and

would then have money to bring home groceries."

"My father was a beekeeper and had as many as 50 hives at one time. He wore a bee's net cap

when he went to get the supers (a drawer-like section that held movable frames where the bees

built their honeycombs inside the hives) or when he worked directly with the bees. I can

remember dad taking the honey up to the house where mother would work on her little kitchen

table to get it ready for sale. *

"My fondest remembrance of the watermelons was in the Fall of the year when it was near time to

freeze. We could pick the big melons, drop them carefully, just to break them, then eat the very

cold and very good, sweet heart of the melon and let the rest lay for the birds. We were never sick

from eating watermelon."

"We also raised Spanish peanuts. My job was to sit with my step- grandmother, Rachel Clump,

and pick the peanuts off the vines. We had a grinder so we could make peanut butter. We also

made yellow cheese which took several weeks to ripen in a screened box at room temperature.

We were always anxious for the cheese to be ready to eat. We would dry corn and apples on the

roof under a cheese cloth so the flies couldn't touch them."

"Not having an ice box, there was a problem keeping milk sweet. We had a concrete milk tank

where we put milk and butter in large stone jars. Our big tall windmill was a few steps from the

kitchen door and a water pipe ran from the windmill into the milk tank and out of the tank into a

water pipe about 30 feet long into the cattle tank. When the wind pumped the cold water, we had

cool milk, but on a still day we children had to pump the water into the tank to keep the milk

from getting sour."

"Growing on the windmill was a big trumpet vine. A Jenny wren built a nest in my mother's

clothes pin bag that she had always left hanging in the vine. Mother would not bother the wren

so she borrowed clothes pins from the neighbor across the road until the little birds hatched and

flew away."

"One of my duties was to drive the milk cows home for milking. One day I decided to ride a cow

home. Somehow she stood still long enough for me to climb on her. It was a very good ride until

I decided to kick her in the sides to make her go faster. When she got to the corral and stopped

suddenly, I went off over her head. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt."

"I also had to walk into the pasture to find a mother sheep that hadn't come home with the flock.

She had a baby lamb and the walk was too far for it. When I found her, I carried the lamb and she

would follow. Sometimes she seemed to forget or could not see her lamb and would start running

back where she started from. At once, I would put the lamb down where she could see it and start

bleating like a baby lamb to attract her attention. She would come back, lick her lamb and we

would move on. During these trips into the pasture, I learned to enjoy the trees, plants and birds

and with the help from my brother, Carl, learned to whistle like many of the birds."

"My parents always got a daily paper. I would ride my pony one and one-half miles to the mail

box every day to get the mail. It was delivered by a mailman who drove a team of horses pulling a

special mail carrier's buggy."

"We had a wood burning kitchen stove with an oven. On this stove we heated the water in a

washtub to wash our clothes. In the washtub we used a washboard to rub the clothes against to

get them clean. Sometime later, we had both a washing machine and electric refrigerator. Several

years before I married, my parents also had a car, a telephone, a radio and a pressure cooker used

for canning foods."

In 1920, Blanche's sister, Leah Allen gave birth to a little girl, Enid. Blanche (age 15) made a

beautiful 'red work' quilt which is still in the possession of Enid Allen Oltmanns.

It is understood that following the 7th grade Blanche had "sleeping sickness" and never returned

to school. It is not understood why.

July 1921 Blanche, age 16, visited her sister, Janice Lippold, in Laramie, Wyoming. She also took a

train from Laramie to Rock Springs, Wyoming to visit her Cousins, May and Roy Zuver.

One summer in her late teens, Blanche visited her sister, Leah Allen, who lived near Manchester

and Wakita in a community called Meikle. Leah arranged to have a young man, Lloyd Long, pick

up Blanche and take her to a party at the nearby home of the Craig's. It was dark when Lloyd and

his two cousins, Rachael and Neva Long, picked up Blanche and it wasn't until they got into the

lighted house of the Craig's that he knew what a pretty girl she was.

In 1924, at approximately 19 years of age, Blanche painted china with the help of her teacher, Mrs.

Showalter. She was probably thinking of giving them as a girl to her future husband.

On Saturday, the 22nd day of May 1926, Blanche married Lloyd Lones Long at the home of Rev.

Pool in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Will Long, the brother of Lloyd and his friend Pansy Phelps were

witnesses. Immediately following the wedding ceremony, they left for Stillwater where Lloyd

received his degree from Oklahoma A. & M. on Tuesday. Following graduation they went to their

new home in Billings, Oklahoma.

While Lloyd joined his brother, Charlie, in the Ford dealership in Billings, Blanche began a family.

On March 11, 1927 their first child, Raymond Hal, was born. A Dr. Renfro helped with this very

long home delivery. Hal was too big and Blanche was too small. Hal recalls the home, in which

he was born, as a "shotgun" house which was one room wide end to end!

In 1929, the depression caused the family to move back with Lloyd's mother and father on the

farm near Manchester, Oklahoma where Lloyd was born. May 1 the proud couple gave birth to a

daughter, Wanda Mae.

In 1931, Lloyd’s mother, May Lones died. this left all the homemaking in the hands of Blanche.

August of 1934, the family moved to Garber, Oklahoma. Their first home was on Main Street one

and one-half blocks South of City Hall. On September 4, a wonderful little son, Edwin Eugene,

was born into the family.

Upon arriving in Garber, Lloyd had $25 in his pocket for food and rent and brought a cow for

milk and Hal’s pony. Lloyd's brother, Charlie, was now in Garber as well and helped get a John

Deere business started. (They were partners for four years when Lloyd bought out his brother in

1938.)

In the summer of 1935 the Longs took their first vacation. Blanche, Lloyd, Hal, Wanda, and

Grandmother Clump went to New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana to visit Blanche's brother and

sisters. Baby Edwin was left with sister Leah Allen.

In 1937, the family moved into a two story house on the Highway three blocks West of City Hall

and across the street South. To help support the family, Blanche took in two teachers who lived

upstairs. This was the year that the family had its first car, a 1937 Ford Pickup. Hal would

remember that all five members of the family would get into the front of the pickup and go to the

Clump's on the Cimarron River for holidays.

May 4, 1939, at 2:00 a.m. Blanche gave birth to Elizabeth Ann. Hal and Wanda recall their dad

calling upstairs to announce that "Queen Elizabeth had arrived." Wanda remembers thinking she

couldn't understand why Queen Elizabeth would come to their house!

With four children, 'roomers', and harvest hands to cook for, a house to keep, clothes to sew, washing

to be done, it is a marvel that Blanche was always healthy. No question she always made a

beautiful home for her family.

As time permitted, Blanche became involved in her church and community. She held many

offices in the UMW (United Methodist Women) of the First Methodist Church including

president. She could be found working as a homeroom mother for her children at school,

member of the Parents Club for the Band and a very active member of the THW (True Honest

Workers Home Demonstration Club) which led to being president in 1965. She took pride in

her many homemaking abilities. She was an expert seamstress, crocheted many afghans (one for

each grandchild), and could embroidery, quilt, and was a wonderful cook. She enjoyed sewing

for her children and grandchildren. The red afghan she crocheted for her husband won a blue

ribbon in the County Fair. Her recipe for Pin Wheel Ice Box Cookies was published in the Enid

Morning News.

Her family was quite proud of Blanche when at the age of about 55 she applied for and received

her first driver's license. Lloyd gave her a beautiful little aqua Ford.

In 1959, Blanche and Lloyd made a month long "trip around the world" stopping to visit Lloyd's

brother, Charlie, in Germany, his sister, Lois, in Pakistan and friends they had met over the years

through Rotary, cattle, wheat associations and the church.

Starting in 1975, the family noticed small changes in their precious mother. These changes

caused it to be more and more difficult for her to accomplish even minor tasks.

In 1983, Blanche was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. At that time, Alzheimer's disease was not well

understood by very many people. Her family was shocked and at the same time surrounded her

with the best support they could give. Her husband became an exemplary caregiver treating her

with tenderness and love even in the most difficult circumstances.

October 23, 1984 Blanche was taken to live in the Garber Nursing Home as it had become much

too difficult for Lloyd to care for her on his own.

October 7, 1992 at barely 87 years old, death finally released Blanche from her prison to live with

God.

Written by her daughter, Elizabeth Long Palmer

2007

FAMILY MEMORIES

Dennis Ray Cook (grandson)

I remember a Dairy Queen type of place at the south end of Main Street

that Bruce and I would try to eat at every day. Grandmother would tell

us to eat healthy at the other restaurant on Main. We would counter that

the burgers had tomatoes and lettuce (veggies), cheese (dairy) and meat!

Also french fries (more veggies) and milk shakes (more dairy)! This

wasn't the home style meal she had in mind, but we were allowed to eat

our burgers, fries and shakes more often because of our great logic.

Wanda Mae Long Cook (daughter)

Mother was a gift from God not only to her family, but to many others as she practiced "love one

another". It was her inborn nature to not speak harshly of others and she instilled in her children

to : "If you can't say anything good about someone, then don't say anything".

She loved quietly doing things to help others, in addition to all that she did for our family of six -

Dad, Hal, myself, Edwin and Elizabeth. I don’t recall her complaining about being overwhelmed

with all that she did to keep our family healthy, well fed, clothed and clean. is was in the days

of no microwave, only gas ovens that were lighted with a match, no automatic wash machines ,

only the line for drying clothes (in freezing weather the frozen clothes were brought in off the line

and hung over our floor furnace to complete drying), no electric irons (the Sadd Irons were

heated on the gas flames on top of the kitchen stove}, no central heating or cooling in the house

( or any other homes). Of course, there were no tvs , computers or cell phones. The cell phones

would have been very helpful to mother, as Daddy worked hours that didn't always !t in with

meal times. Instead, if he wasn't at home, when we at down to eat, Mother had to just wait for

him to show up and hope that she had kept the meal warm. (Remember, no microwaves.)

Growing up at home, I never remember seeing Mother in a house robe. Every morning she

quickly put on her clean dress and makeup before going to the kitchen to cook breakfast. She was

ready for the day and always had a smile.

Mother was an excellent seamstress and won many ribbons at the Garfield County Fair that

included the top prizes. Her sewing was a labor of love and Elizabeth and I were the lucky ones to

benefit from her expert ability to take a piece of carefully selected cloth, and produce a

masterpiece of clothing. In fact, her granddaughters felt very special in the sweet dresses that she

made for them during their very young years. Now that I think of it, she also made shirts for

grandsons !!!

There was no one that could make cottage cheese like Mother - in fact, we delivered this special

dairy product (from our Granny milk cow, out at our farm, a quarter mile from town) to several

weekly customers, along with gallons of milk. Edwin and I pulled a little red wagon to make

these deliveries over town - it was a fun activity for us. The milk was straight from the milk can

into a gallon jar, and it was carefully "purfied" by placing a clean tea towel over the jar and

straining the milk !

Mother taught me how to wring a chicken's neck by putting a piece of wood over the neck and

pulling like crazy, until it came apart - or to hold it down and chop it's head off !!! I know this

seems very gruesome now, but we couldn't buy them prepared in a grocery store like today --- so

that was not abnormal at the time. (Yuk ! I can't believe I did that !!!) Now, to get to a different

"lesson", Mother made such good fried chicken and each of we six had a favorite piece. Mother

on the other hand always took the neck for herself. It was because of her desire to let others have

the "best" part, that I learned, in my married life, to do the same - hey, I found out that the neck

meat was super delicious, but work to get to it !!!!

Mother made the very best chicken and noodles, her beef roasts with veggies was usually a

Sunday special (after church at noon), and her chocolate cake with fudge icing, and the caramel

cake with thick caramel icing was a Sunday night special, usually with jello fruit salad (this was

not an every week treat). By evening church, we had helped clear the table, hand washed and

dried the dishes (daddy was exempt from this), read our borrowed neighbors (Lynches) colored

funnies), played while our Mother and Daddy rested, then were cleaned up and ready to go.

When the fresh veggies and fruits were in season, Mother really got the canning fever; therefore,

we were well stocked with all the "good things" that were out of season! We didn't have a

basement, so the way back of a closet was !tted with selves to hold our goodies. My, my that was

good eating.

Since we lived on Highway 74 and only 3 blocks from the railroad , we often had Hobos stop by

our house during the 40s. They would jump off the train when it stopped, and head down the

Highway looking for a food handout - always coming to the back door. Mother was very willing

to give them a heaping plate of hot food, but always asked them to do a little chore - like sweep

the sidewalk or pull some weeds out of her tiny flower bed. Mother's thinking was that a person

would feel better about themselves, if they "worked" for their food, and I believe she was correct,

as none ever said "no" to the "work".

How Mother did all that was necessary and added other activities is a mystery to me. Actually, I

feel she must have prayed constantly for God to help her. She successfully started a home Bible

study, It was made up mostly of the Methodist church ladies, this took extra time before each

meeting to read certain scriptures and write in the booklet it's meanings, which were then

discussed in the meetings. She always attended the school events and meetings, also assisted in

meals that were held there for various occasions and supported all four of us children in whatever

activities we "took on" at school. But Mother never boasted about any honors that we might have

attained - in fact, she didn't think it was proper to boast about anything she did ! This doesn't

mean she wasn't pleased with it all, just that life was more important than trying to build herself

up!!!!

Mother was very active in the United Methodist Women's group, served in most capacities

including being President. She was one of the chief cooks when the women made doughnuts and

we children took orders from the community and delivered them - once a year very special time .

She also held various offices in the Home Demonstration club including serving as it's President.

Those were a few of the special things that I remember about Mother when I lived at home.

Here is a peek into Mother's spiritual life. In a condolence card, that she sent to a niece, who had

just lost her husband to a sudden death, Mother wrote the following:

“Naturally this was a shock to us too. We feel so very very sorry this had to

happen so early in life. But or Lord has a way to take care of His flock of which

we cannot understand, but we must continue to have faith that His way is best."

Edwin Eugene Long (son)

My mother was the sweetest person alive! She nurtured me in every imaginable way. When I was

about 9 and was swinging in my back yard, I jumped out of the swing and broke both of my

wrists. Well, you can well see with both of my arms in casts, how my mother even at age 9 had to

again treat me like a baby and clean my bottom after I had done number 2!

When much younger and about 4 or 5, I we always had milk from the cow at the farm. Mother

would put a dish towel over the top of a big kettle and strain out the hair and etc. which would be

objectionable. Then on occasions she would make butter from the cream. Some way she would

put the cream in a container and set it on the cabinet for a time to allow it to sour or something

so it would curdle. Well, I was wanting some candy or something up in the cabinets and was

crawling on the cabinet and when I stepped down I stepped into the container being prepared to

make butter! Well, my mother was not any happy camper, but she probably just squeezed my ear

and said, you little bum!

On another occasion, I wanted a puppy and was allowed to buy such. We brought it home and I

decided to make it a bed in a hammock style in a box so it could not get lose and run around the

house. Well, soon after going to bed, the puppy got to wiggling and brought down the hammock

and was able to get out of the box and pooped all over the kitchen floor. Again mother was not a

happy camper. I didn't keep the dog too long!

At about 6 mother allowed me to get a rabbit for a pet. Well, it had been impregnated before

acquired and in the cage I made for it it soon made a bed and had the babies. Well, I was not as

good a caretaker of baby rabbits as I should have been and it was totally my responsibility. Well

after some time when I did not adequately feed the mother and the babies, she by nature

destroyed the babies herself. Well again, I was embarrassed to death and learned a big lesson

about responsibilities.

Stacia Long Glavas (granddaughter)

Grandmother Long was both quiet and strong, wise and steady. She was always busy with her

hands. I remember so well her teaching me to sew, with a calm manner that was

both encouraging and correcting. She expected things to be a certain way, and you always knew

where you stood with her. Above all, she was thrifty! She sewed mesh bags to hold the little bars

of soap that had gotten too small to hold, so they could be used to the very end. She smashed her

food cans to make room in the trash (an idea that has !nally come around again) and she reused

bags and baggies over and over. Too bad it took 3 generations to !nally understand the

importance of recycling!

Laura Cook Belden (granddaughter)

First off, the overall memories I have of my Grandparents Long and their home are that it was a

safe, loving place where all were welcome. I have a very proud feeling of them and how well

respected and liked they were in the community. I also love the memories of walking with them

to church, the grocery store, and the post office and with Grandmother to visit Ruby, one of their

neighbors that I believe was pretty much homebound. Great, fun memories of them and Garber.

Some of my memories of Grandmother Long include her impeccable sewing skills and sharing

that knowledge with me. I loved how she was so precise in everything from choosing patterns, to

cutting the paper patterns out, to !tting them to our bodies, to pinning them to the fabric, to

cutting them out and then of course sewing them together. And talk about plaids! Plaid wools

were very popular in the 60’s and 70’s and boy was she the master of matching plaids at all the

seams! I turned out to be pretty darn good at it too because I learned from the best! I also

remember her small sewing rocking chair sitting in it and thinking it was so cool to have a drawer

in it! And her sewing machine cabinet was meticulously organized which I loved. Such great

memories…..

I will forever crave her incredible homemade noodles!!! Oh my gosh, they were the best I’ve ever

eaten in my entire life! I also loved her garden out next to the garage and spending time with her

in it. It was such a peaceful place. And does everyone remember how nice she always smelled?

I’m almost positive she was an Oil of Olay woman because every time I open an Olay product, I

smell her…… :)

Kathy Long Disney (granddaughter)

Grandmother was very no-nonsense, thrifty, and very involved in her church and family. If you

acted up in church, all it took was “the look” from grandmother, and you quit whatever you were

doing. I remember sitting with her and Granddad in church, and she taught me how to draw

Snoopy, and we would play tic-tac-toe. She sewed a lot, and made us granddaughters matching

night gowns, and every grandchild got a crocheted afghan in our favorite color. She had all the

granddaughters make Christmas cookies and decorate them one year, and when we had a family

dinner, she assigned everyone chores. Everything had its place, she was very organized, and her

house was always clean. When you made the bed, you had to make sure the pattern on the

bedspread was perfectly centered-she would check to make sure you did it right. When you

wanted a treat, she always had Fig Newton’s for us. (Not my favorite!) I remember the wonderful

smells coming from her kitchen. One summer someone and I picked her asparagus out of the

garden and started a !re with some gas and sticks in the brick grill in the back yard, and tried to

cook it. She wasn’t too happy about that! She always had a vegetable garden in the back yard and

flowers in the flower beds, and took great pride in them.

Amber Cook Metz (great granddaughter)

I've been trying to come up with something for you to add. I was still young and barely remember

much about Great Grandmother Long. I do have a picture of her, me, and Great Grandfather that

is still dear to me. I look to be maybe 6-8 years old.

Tyler Ed Schooley (great grandson)

As for Grandmother, I only recall visiting her at the nursery home.

Bruce Dale Cook (grandson)

During her lifetime, Grandmother Long probably made miles and miles of broad thick noodles

from scratch for chicken soup - - - a lost art now with all the prepackaging of skinny thin noodles.

One summer she patiently taught me each step of her recipe.

A balanced meal was important to Grandmother Long who didn’t need a food pyramid to

understand the importance food groups for health. The fresh produce which she daily picked

from her garden found its way onto the dinner plates alongside other essential foods.

Paul Duane Cook (son-in-law)

After college graduation in 1949, and after Wanda and I were engaged, I had earned enough

money, working for the Kansas Highway Comm., to make a down payment on a used 1941 Chevy

sedan. Good used cars were very scarce since no civilian autos had been produced in

1942,43,44,and ‘45, and I couldn’t afford the newer ones. In my haste to get to Garber from

western Kansas one Friday after work, I managed to “throw a rod” in that old 6 cylinder engine

somewhere west of Enid ! I locked it up and hitch-hiked on to Garber that night. Before I even

woke up Saturday morn, Mr. Long had a truck on the way to haul the car on in to the John Deere

Shop ! Then he located a short block engine in Enid and proceeded to have Buck Hyde (chief

Mechanic) drop his normal tractor work and install the car motor for me!!! I was on my way

back to Kansas by Sunday eve. How many future in-laws would have done all this?

On our first trip to Detroit Lakes, as Mom and Dad Longs’ guests, Mr. Long realized that I was

more of a “plug” fisherman than troller. So, one early morning he got me up at daybreak and took

me to a lake a few miles away. We were plugging for bass in the reed beds along the shore. I was

fishing with my favorite plug..a Jitterbug, and caught the biggest bass I have ever caught..a 6

pounder! He was so proud of us for our accomplishment !!! So was I.

Mr. and Mrs. Long provided many more wonderful memories through the years at Detroit Lakes.

The family reunions, the great meals, the trolling experiences, the time he spent with our children

and grandchildren teaching them how to !sh, the shuffle board games, swimming, skiing, on and

on.

Over the years, Mr. Long became my favorite fishing buddy. We !shed Canton Lake, Grand,

Sooner, Eufaula, and Table Rock lakes. I pulled my boat from Bartlesville to Garber, then on to

Canton only to find we couldn’t launch the boat due to high winds! So we !shed for walleye from

the dam without any luck. We spent a day on Sooner and only caught a few crappie. Mr. and Mrs.

Long went to both Grand and Table Rock with us for over-night trips. Both places had nice lake

side cabins and enclosed fishing docks for leisure crappie fishing. We had fun and laughs on

Grand...like tangling up a trotline so bad we had to throw it away, and inadvertently taking some

of the Camps cooking utensils home with us! (we returned them on the next trip back). Even

though we caught !sh and enjoyed the scenery and our time together at Table Rock, it was also

sad...the first time we witnessed strange behavior from Mom Long.

Since we were able to share Lake Eufaula for many years, although without Mrs. Long, we had a

variety of experiences. Like being hit by lightning and setting the cabin on fire, and sinking the

fishing boat completely so that divers were required to raise it. Both these happened on the same

weekend!! But we also had a miracle at the same time...a couple Angels showed up out of the blue

to help clean up the Cabin mess!! Liz and a girl friend were camping out on the lake, unknown to

us, and just happened to drop in as we started to clean up the mess!! Thanks again, Angels!!

Although we enjoyed crappie fishing, I think because you get to sit, chat, and rest, our favorite

was trying to catch those flathead catfish. We used live perch for bait and “drop lines” from dead

trees left standing in the lake. The location was 4 miles up Longtown Creek from our cabin, and

the water wasn’t always calm between, so we got wet a few times even without rain. The process

was to bait out in the eve and check for !sh in the morn. The fun was trying to remember which

trees we had hung our lines from, how many we had hung, and finding them!! Over the years we

caught lots of cat!sh, up to 35 pounders!

You know, a person would have to write a book rather than a few short paragraphs to come close

to telling about all the enjoyment Mr. and Mrs. Long have brought to me and my family. I am so

blessed to have known them.

Linda Sue Cook Smith (granddaughter)

Since I grew up in Bartlesville, I had the great fortune of spending several days in a row with

Grandmother and Granddad Long during the summer months. I have many, many fond

memories so I guess the best way to share them is by listing them.

Grandmother Long made the BEST peanut butter and honey sandwiches! She premixed peanut

butter and honey together and stored it in a jar. Delicious!

Grandmother was a great homemaker and gardener. One of my chores was to dust mop the

floors, and to help hang up and bring in the laundry. Ahhhh…the smell of clean sheets on the

clothesline. And what about her vegetable garden! Gathering yellow squash, scratchy okra, and

ripe tomatoes was always fun but my favorite gardening memory is of the two of us sitting on the

front porch glider and snapping green beans. I loved hearing the “snap!”

Grandmother was a wonderful seamstress too. I remember hearing that no one could match

plaids like Grandmother! And, I had pants and vests to prove it! When I was 5 or 6 six years old,

Grandmother taught me how to sew on buttons. She gave me a scrap piece of fabric and a variety

of buttons to pick from to sew onto the cloth. My sampler became a one-of-a-kind blanket for my

baby dolls. Grandmother also taught me how to crochet. This was a bit challenging since I’m

left-handed, so she sat across the table from me so I could learn from a “mirror image”.

Grandmother also introduced me to embroidery. Thanks, Grandmother!

Every time I hear the phrase, “And, now, for the rest of the story…” I think of Grandmother. She

always made certain to have the radio on in the kitchen while cleaning up from lunch. I can still

hear her chuckles and thoughtful, “hum’s”, as she listened to what Paul Harvey had to say.

Another precious memory I have is walking the short distance from their house to church.

Grandmother always had something interesting in her purse to help keep me occupied during the

service. Sometimes it was little books, sometimes a handkerchief, sometimes pipe cleaners, and

sometimes she’d just hold my hand and gently rub my fingers. Can you hear Grandmother’s

sweet, sweet voice singing hymns? I can!

What a blessing to have had such wonderful grandparents and that my family has wonderful

memories of them too!

Donna Elizabeth Long Lawrence (granddaughter)

I was extremely fortunate to spend many hours with Grandmother while growing up in Garber.

She may have only been 5 feet tall (or less), but in my eyes she was almost bigger than life…..she

knew how to do everything! And she knew the answers to all my questions about life. I still

remember the shock in my mind when I found out Grandmother didn't go to college, In fact, if I

remember correctly, I'm not sure she even finished high school. I was probably about 15 and I

recall thinking, “How could someone this wise have minimal education?” She could name all the

Presidents, could identify every bird we ever saw, she was an amazing seamstress and cook….she

even made noodles from scratch! I'm sure Grandmother's patience was tested as she sat with me

for hour upon hour, teaching me to sew. First an apron, eventually graduating to a dress. Her love

for birds lives in me today. I cannot see a robin without thinking about Grandmother, and I

picture the robin's nest right outside her kitchen window. When I watch anything on the Public

Education channel on TV (OETA), I think of the many times our phone would ring in the

evening and we knew it would be Grandmother to tell us we should be watching an educational

program about sea life, the planets, or American history. Something else I gained from

Grandmother was making sure we have everything we need when we travel and a place for

everything. Whether we were driving with them to Minnesota or going to an OSU football game,

Grandmother came prepared with everything in her purse…….bandaids, hard candy, Kleenix,

and more. She was a very proper lady. I remember the look of shock on her sweet face one day

when she told me something exciting and my response was, “Wow, Grandmother, that’s stud!”

She was horri!ed that a young woman would say such a word and she quickly schooled me on the

actual meaning. I loved Grandmother dearly and I believe she had a very strong and positive

impact upon my life.