Remembering Mary Beth Bledsoe Morgan

        Almost eight years ago, I wrote about the Bledsoe family's ties to Oklahoma State University. Embedded in the blog post, is a wonderful family photo. Of the four in this family, only Ron is living, but he and I have fun visiting. Today on Mary Beth's 74th birthday, I recall the joy she brought to our family. (Here is the link to the blog posting about the aforementioned ties to OSU:    https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/12/69-years-ago-orange-and-black-forever.html )

Beth at 3 1/2 months of age.

           Mary Beth Bledsoe born June 27, 1947, to Ella Edith Gates Bledsoe and Harry Bledsoe had an older brother, Ron, ready to welcome her. Beth was an older cousin who always had time for me. As we grew up, we shared several things. Both alums from Oklahoma State University, we loved wearing the “Brightest Orange.” Each of us chose the teaching profession.

Beth earned her degree in speech pathology. Aunt Ella told Mother how sympathetic Beth was with her underprivileged students who desperately needed new shoes.

           Even as a first grader, Mother recalled aunt Ella related how first graders teased Beth because her dad was named “Harry.” Typical Beth said laughingly to them, “I am hairy!” and quickly took the fun out of their attempt at hurtful teasing.

Beth at age 12

          Another memory from Mother centered around the extended Gates family attending church at the Big Bend Baptist Church in the 1950s. Brother Ray Hart pastored the church at that time. He would loudly exhort the congregation to hear and obey the Word of the Lord. Someone mentioned after the service how loudly he delivered the message. Astute young Beth had listened intently. She quoted the phrase “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet” and said in a bold little voice, “He said to lift up your voice like a trumpet.” The verse Brother Hart quoted was taken from Isaiah 58:1: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up they voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. With Beth’s courageous response, she silenced the negative discussion about Brother Hart.

Beth during her time at OSU

            Some of my favorite visits were after she left education and moved to Washington, D.C. She worked initially for Wisconsin's Senator Les Aspin. Then she found herself in a position that suited perfectly her talents and giftedness with Oklahoma’s Carl Albert, United States Speaker of the House, until his retirement. She completed her time in the nation's capital with Jim Wright from Texas when he served in the third most powerful position in the federal government.

             

           One evening at Grandma’s house, I can recall listening with rapt attention to Beth’s recounting of preparation for an event for Queen Elizabeth II. She researched and assigned the seating for the elaborate event, being careful to seat people in the correct positions based on their status and avoid seating those with obvious conflicts next to each other. Mother and I have often laughed at Beth’s greatest concern. She worked so late into the night that she missed her options for transport to her apartment. As she trudged wearily home, she never worried about harm to herself if she faced mugging or assault as she walked the streets of the nation's capital late at night. What was her only concern? No one would know where the Queen should sit!

Mary Beth met and married James Morgan, relocating to De Leon, Texas, with just a little bit larger population than Pawnee, Oklahoma. How delighted she was to show off each of her sons, first, Robby and then Clint, on their inaugural appearances at the annual Gates reunion!

Her husband, James, served as a tri-county judge in their locale. Beth organized and promoted many local events that drew the community together. Her congenial, genuine personality fitted her perfectly for pulling off successful happenings like the yearly Peach and Melon Festival in De Leon.

Then the horrible diagnosis of lymphoma came. She valiantly fought and even experienced remission. Always a trooper, she agreed to a stem cell transplant. A complication resulted in the need for a tracheostomy. Our last in-person visit occurred after her procedure. In typical-Beth-fashion, she navigated perfectly almost causing me to forget the challenge she faced daily.

We kept in touch some with letters in which she emphasized the importance of her faith as she navigated being a wife and mother. Then the call from her brother, Ron, of her contracting MRSA. Almost before we could process her serious condition, she was gone in November of 2007.

As I reread her obituary this week, ironically, I was struck by one sentence. She loved the Breath of Life praise service there and was always in attendance when health did not prevent it. With so many changes in my life since Beth’s death, I reread that sentence with a different mindset. (Click on link to read Mary Beth's obituary: https://obits.oklahoman.com/us/obituaries/oklahoman/name/mary-morgan-obituary?pid=98488797 )

Revelation, the last book in the Bible, has been described as a book full of praise by Dr. David Jeremiah, noted pastor and Bible teacher. The Apostle John’s final book, Revelation, is filled with praise. John initiates the praise in chapter 1, the four living creatures offer praise in chapter 4, and the elders, angels, a multitude, and every creature in heaven praise God and the Lamb, our Lord Jesus. 

Peter wrote of the way we are made fit for heaven in his first epistle, chapter 2, verses 9-10:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;* who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

            After we read those powerful words, can we do anything except praise God for His mercy to us? May we embrace Beth’s love of praising God and follow her example of praise. Each day and throughout the day may we praise Him for the great and marvelous things He has done for us.

*Jesus Himself identified as the Light. In John 8:12, He said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Without Jesus, we cannot enter heaven. Without Jesus, we remain in our sin and darkness. Neither sin or darkness will be in heaven.

Remembering Qualities of a Good Father

Knowing our ancestors through their lives and words can empower us to continue their legacy. Identifying and internalizing those character qualities that buoyed our patriarchal ancestors through difficulties beyond imagination will enable us to rise above our own challenges and flourish.

Fun-Loving, Resilient, Loving, and Industrious – Character Qualities of My Great Grandpas

The Fun-loving Great-grandfather

One of only two existing
photos of Bill Rainey. I 
remember Grandma saying
they had a good photo of 
him and his father but 
Aunt Emma took it for an 
enlargement, got into a 
heated disagreement with
the photographer, and he 
refused to give back the 
original!

William Marion Rainey, the maternal grandfather of my mother, began life on July 15, 1868, in Stoddard County, Missouri. The family history states “Bill” was the only son of Andrew J. and Mary Rainey. He and his fine-looking horse caught the eye of Rosa Jarrell, an impoverished young woman. After their marriage, Bill and Rosa accompanied his parents to Texas and Indian Territory as Bill and his dad worked on the crews that built the railroads north. Their first daughter, Daisy Dean Rainey Rice, was born in Tyler, Texas, in 1893. Lewis Elbert Rainey, their older son, entered their family at Terral, Indian Territory, in 1894, shortly after Rosa and Baby Daisy forded the Red River to meet Bill. Bill and Rosa buried their precious three-year-old, Della in Dale Cemetery in Shawnee, Oklahoma Territory in 1899. Then the daughter who loved to tag along with her dad was born. My grandmother, Gladys Vivian, came into his life in 1900, while they lived in a tent, as he helped build the railroad. Bill’s little spitfire whom he loved to tease, Alice Vertle was born in 1902 but suffered a horrible case of measles, rendering her visually impaired but never lacking in spiritedness. Bill’s youngest daughter, Emma Maryann Rainey Buckley, wrapped her father around her finger from the moment she was born on the last day of 1903. According to my grandmother, 1905 brought the last baby and her mother’s favorite, Eugene Robert Rainey, who shared his father’s love of fun.¹

Our Resilient Great-grandfather With a Linguistic Surprise
Walter Smith, son of the Cherokee Trail of Tears survivors, Callcayah Smith and Rachel Kingfisher Smith, was born in Delaware District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory in 1855. By the time he was twelve, both of his parents had died – his father as a member of Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles, Company A and his mother tragically killed in their corn field by a man fearful that she was bush whacker ready to capture him.² Young Walter gained fluency in Cherokee, English, and Spanish. This enabled him to serve as an interpreter for his Cherokee nation and the United States Government. Calvin Callcayah Smith, my own maternal grandfather, named for his grandfather, Callcayah, valued learning, education, and stressed it for my sister and me. I just wish Grandpa had mastered Cherokee and taught the language to me. 

The Loving Great-Grandfather With Just Five Years to Endear Himself to His Daughter

Rufus "Dive" Tripp, father of 
Mamie Irene Tripp Gates. Died
at only 42 years of age with 
kidney disease, according to 
Aunt Mamie Marie Gates 
Judkins Tice.

, Mamie  Rufus Tripp, the beloved father of my paternal grandmother, Mamie Irene Tripp Gates, came into this world in 1858, in Illinois. In early 1865, Rufus bid good-bye to his father, Horace Baron, as he was drafted into the Union Army. By August, Horace had succumbed to illness, never to return to his little family. On March 2, 1892, Rufus, age 34, married Nettie Ann Venator, age 20. In Great-grandma Nettie’s letters to her dear husband, the reader can easily detect their love for each other as well as their oldest daughter, my grandma Mamie Gates, their only baby at that time. Within eight years of pledging their vows one to another, Nettie, at only 28, would bury her much-loved husband and father of her three daughters. Even though Grandma only had her father for five years, she exemplified daily his loving attitude to her family.³

A Great Loss in Adolescence Didn’t Stifle His Industrious Attitude

John Fredrick Gates lived life on
his own terms until a stroke that 
brought paralysis and within
months he died.

John Fredrick Gates, our great grandfather from the Gates branch of our family tree, was born in Illinois in 1839. After suffering from typhoid and scarlet fever in his adolescent years, John Fredrick was left deaf by age 14. In his early 20s, he accompanied his friends to the rail station to wish them well as they left to fight in the Union Army. John could not go with his friends to fight for the government of Lincoln due to his deafness. By age 31, John was in Kansas on his own farm. In the 1870 United States Census, his real estate was valued higher than others, as was his personal assets.⁴ Yet on the census record line for him had three words scrawled “deaf and dumb.” At age 35, as a successful farmer, a mutual friend told him of a well-educated young woman who had been deaf from birth. After receiving a letter from her and one week of knowing her, he married Elizabeth Studebaker with which he shared 41 years of marriage until his death at age 78. My grandpa, Edmund Gates, Sr., worked his entire life to achieve as his father, John Fredrick, had done.⁵ John Fredrick would be pleased with so many of his descendants and the results of their creativity, hard-working productivity, and diligence.

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.  I Thessalonians 2:11-12

NOTES

1. https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/10/william-marion-rainey.html

2, https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-cherished-new-years-eve-centenarian.html

3. https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-of-hardest-things-for-little-girl.html

4. https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2018/07/whats-with-such-little-house.html

Eyes of Blue

            June 15 marks what would have been Dad’s 121st birthday. The last few weeks I have thought about his eyes. He looked intently and purposefully from his blue eyes. Usually his eyes sparkled expressively with excitement over what was next to do no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the task or event, often saying, “Just whatever you want to do, honey!”

           A few days ago, when gathering the flowers from Pixley Cemetery, I recalled how keenly he looked “out of his eyes.” On the heels of that thought, I remembered the passage below from his military memoirs, Okie Over Europe.

               The Army Air Force fought a faceless enemy in the skies over Europe. On one rare occasion, Edmund distinctly saw the face of a German fighter pilot as he deliberately flew his FW-190 into their formation.  Edmund thought when he looked into his face, “He’s just as scared as I am.”  Indelibly imprinted in Edmund’s memory was the mutual expression of fear exchanged in that brief moment by the young German fighter pilot and him. Then the enemy pilot tipped one wing, barely missed Edmund’s plane, and targeted another bomber in the squadron below.  The lower squadrons were far more vulnerable because of their position on the fringe of the formation allowing for easier accessibility by the Germans. 

                Just the day prior, Edmund’s crew experienced a combat mission of over five hours with no friendly fighter escorts.  How difficult to imagine the amount of inner strength, stamina, and courage required to climb back on the Flying Fortress and fly another combat mission lasting seven hours and fifty-five minutes! 

                What relief and inner encouragement flooded Edmund as he caught the first glimpse of the White Cliffs of Dover as they flew over the English Channel approaching the English coast.  Those imposing precipices always symbolized safety and signaled the near completion of a successful mission.  Even in the song, White Cliffs of Dover, the massive promontories are associated with the peace and security of a happier time the songwriter was anticipating in the future.

Taken on April 10, 1943

            As Dad would often say, “The mind is a funny thing.” As I  rounded slowly one of the curves on Pixley Road, I thought Was that German fighter pilot close enough to see Dad’s eyes?
            Dad recounted the experience when he talked about his second combat mission. He was by no means a seasoned B-17 crew member. Neither were any of the others on the ten-man crew. Interestingly, the photo to the right was taken during the first half of his combat missions. His steely eyes say to me, “I mean business.” Maybe that is the determined look the Folke Wulf 190 pilot saw. (Click on this link to see how Dad developed a determination of steel Faith_Family_Farm: Maybe It Was Spring Fever (bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com)).

           Then I picked up one of the photos Ron Bledsoe, my oldest cousin, gave us from the photograph collection of his now deceased mother, Ella Gates Bledsoe. One can see Dad has already earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in this photo below taken in London, England on a "three-day pass." The ceremony awarding it occurred just before his crew took a direct hit over Berlin on the mission immediately after the final mission he had flown with them. In the photo, his eyes are trying to smile. 

           Dad never forgot the loss of friends/fellow crewmen and the trauma of not knowing for around a year where the four MIAs on the fated Berlin mission ended up that March day in 1944 (For more about Dad's crew being shot down over Berlin, go to this link: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/02/neither-of-them-got-over-march-6-1944.html).

          The third and final photo captures Dad's military persona and Mother treasures it most. It represents that he overcame and was continuing with his life. (Click on this link to learn more about Dad's rehab: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/09/my-dads-connection-with- hurricane-irma.html).
          On the last morning that Dad ate breakfast, the nod of his head and his eyes conveyed that he was right where he wanted to be when I mentioned he could see Big Bend Road outside the window. Dad was a good patient for the three years and seven months following his first stroke. He never complained. His health care workers complimented him on how hard he worked to comply with therapy or whatever they requested of him.
          These verses convey Dad’s simple but profound philosophy. The first verse written by David, explains that his eyes are on God, affirms he is sheltering in God and requests God be faithful to him.
But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute. (Psalm 141:8)
          The second verse from Hebrews 12:2 builds on the first one, reminding us to focus our eyes on Jesus.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Mother's Favorite Photo of Dad from His Stint in World War II
   Below is a link to read how Mother described Dad:

                                      https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2019/06/celebrating-edmund-gates-jr-on-100th.html

Oh No! It Happened Again!

              A high-pitched incessant meowing punctuated the early morning air. The two other kittens wormed their way into the food, carnivorously devouring it, totally oblivious to the cats three times as big as them.
               As soon as I was assured each feline, no matter the size, was nourishing their furry little selves, the investigation began. I walked slowly and cautiously, stopping to listen every couple of minutes. My ears seemed to be leading me outside the west gate.
               Each little meow beckoned me to the old chicken house-turned-shelter for Dad’s old pickup. Walking slowly by the passenger side of the pickup, I heard an increase in the intensity of the meowing. I peeked through the chicken wire into an old room with chicken nests still hanging on the north wall. There was the missing kitten pacing back and forth cautiously on the perch positioned in front of the line of nests. I began talking to her, asking her what she was doing up there. She responded by increasing the decibels in her meows. I walked over to her and cupped her in my hands after rescuing her from her “highwire” captivity.
             I returned her to her other two litter mates. Soon she was gobbling down the food she craved. She was safe, near her attentive mother cat.
            I could hardly believe it, about five days later, the above scenario repeated itself. The same kitten found herself in exactly the same precarious place with apparently no means to get herself down again.
            Carrying the cuddly fur ball back inside the fence to the “groceries” she loved, I reflected how much I am like the little cutie. How often do I say, "Oh no! It happened again!" Over and over, I find myself saying a derogatory or critical statement. I frequently worry before trusting, even though I know worry is sin. “Frittering” or squandering precious time seems much easier to do than to utilize time wisely in the 21st century, but Paul told us to “redeem the time.” In no way have I mentioned all “besetting” sins that can derail us. Every reader probably had several sins come to mind that trip up themselves and other people.
            Psalm 107 has 43 verses. Ironically, the exact same verse occurs 4 times. It first appears in verse 6. Then the exact wording is repeated in verses 13, 19, and 28. Here is the recurrent verse from Psalm 107: Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses.
            Interestingly, verses 6 and 28 indicate the subjects in the psalm found themselves in difficulty because of circumstances, not sin. Verses 13 and 19 are each preceded by verses that mention rebellion (verse 11) and transgression and iniquities (verse 17). The people mentioned in these verses 11 and 17 are crying out to God from their sinful state.
            The little kitten serves as a tangible example of how we come to God. We immediately call out to Him, just as she meowed incessantly for me or anyone to rescue her. The second time she found herself in a precarious place with no way to get down, she “called out” for help.                                                                                                                                     Keep calling out to God for help. He wants to help those in need so much more than I wanted to help the kitten. Never turn to any source other than Him. He will respond no matter how many times we call.