We all loved our new home. I made drapes for the windows, we put the yard in and settled down to ENJOY.
Linda found two new friends. Gay Bailey and Tommy Pernell. They were a happy threesome and played and played and played.
It became time for Butch to have his tonsils removed. Also is was deemed that Floyd needed his removed. Dr John Rice was to do the surgery. He did Butch first and things went well. Then there was Floyd. I had Butch at home and went to get Floyd and the Dr. said that he couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I had found a sitter, Laurene Vandergrift, and she came to stay with Butch and Linda and I went to sit at hospital with Floyd. He was out there a week before they finally go the bleeding stopped.
Floyd and I started a tradition of live Easter Bunnies at Easter time. The first year on Bellevue, Floyd fixed a "cage type thing" in the back yard and we put 2 bunnies in it Sat. nite. The next morning, excited Butch and Linda got up and ran outside to see the Bunnies. They were in the cage, DEAD. NOT A GOOD THING. Seems the neighbor had a dog that killed them.
Life continued at an even pace. I was invited to join a bridge club. Two tables. They served desert on china, crystal and silver. I had crystal (Wedding gifts), but no china or silver. NOT A GOOD THING. Floyd insisted that I get some, so I did. Still use it. The first night for my turn, the sewer stops up. NOT A GOOD THING But I got through the evening and members of that club became life long friends. I am the only one out of the group that is still living.
Sometime in 1958 Floyd came home and said that 2 City Councilmen from Kilgore were coming over to meet with him. They came to the house and at the end of the visit they said they wanted Floyd to come to Kilgore as City Manager. NOT A GOOD THING Floyd accepted and he was to start new job first of Jan 1959.
We put the house on the market, Butch took the mumps and I was left to deal with LIFE ON BELLEVUE. Floyd found a 2 bedroom house for us to rent. Activity on selling the house was not happening. Butch got over the mumps and Linda didn't take them, so movers came and we moved to Kilgore.
The house we rented was pretty bad, on a busy street and no children around. We stayed there about a month and found a new house on Dogwood Trail. It had 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and small den. The needihood was full of kids. A GOOD THING The kids played from daylight til dark.
Life for Floyd and me became something to behold. We were invited out to dinner the first 30 days we lived in Kilgore. Everyone wanted to get to know Floyd. We made some lifelong friends there and a lot of special things happened.
The Mayor of Kilgore was a member of the family that owned the land where the original oil wells were drilled. (very wealthy). There came a time for a meeting in Galveston that Floyd and I would attend/ with the Mayor and his wife. They were really nice and I enjoyed being around them (which didn't happen much), but on this trip, the Mayor decided we should go fishing. (Not on a normal rental boat) He chartered a hugh vessel, and we were out in the Inter coastal channel and the motor stopped. The Captain was working on it, but couldn't get it to start. We looked up and there was a HUGH freighter bearing down on us. Very Frighting. Somehow the freighter missed us and we got back to port after dark.
Floyd was a member of Rotary Club in Kilgore as was Van Cliburn's father. We went out to eat every Sunday after church. One Sunday, Van Cliburn, his Mother and Father were there. They came over to our table to say "hello". Van was at home because his finger was infected and his arm was in a cast. He complemented that Butch and Linda were beautiful children and he would like to make a painting of them, but couldn't due to infected finger. MELT MY HEART
We settled into our new home and life. We were able to buy a cabin on Lake Cherokee about 15 miles out of Kilgore. I loved it and so did the kids, not sure about Floyd. We bought a boat, I loved to water ski, had Linda riding surf board by age 4, Butch loved to fish. Floyd said best day of man's life is when he get rid of boat. I loved to fish and met a new friend, that loved to fish. Butch and Linda rode school bus, picked them up in front of our house. After they left for school, I would go pick my friend up and we would go fish until time to get back home after school.
Linda took dancing from Gussie Nell Davis, Leader of the Kilgore Ranger ets She did learn to skip in that year, but wasn't interested in taking any more dance.
We stayed in Kilgore 5 years, Really had a wonderful time, Then one day, Gene Roberts, owner of Rangaire Corp, called Floyd and asked him to come back to Cleburne and work for him. Floyd said about 5 years in one city, as City Manager, it was probably time for a move.
Here again, the house market was not good. We put our house one the market and rented a house on Bellevue.
When we were closing the Lake property up (to put on market), Floyd was trying to find me and I was sitting on the diving board crying. (I REALLY LOVED THAT LAKE HOUSE)
So now it is a move back to Cleburne.
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