A Merry Heart at 98

I am indebted to my sister, Angie, for some proofreading and editing on this blog about Mother. Angie does some of this every weekend before she posts this on her Facebook page. This is only one of the 1,001 ways she helps me on a regular basis.

If the Lord grants Mother life until October 17, 2022, she will celebrate her 98th birthday. We thank Him for that. She still likes to laugh. Sometimes I tell her unfortunately she lives with the more serious daughter (I am trying to learn to lighten up). Many times over the years she has quoted these verses from Proverbs 17:22b and Proverbs 15:13a:

A merry heart does good like a medicine…

A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance...

Here are a few memories that provide a glimpse into Mom's character.

Matter-of-Fact but Funny Preschooler
One day the two Herring boys, neighbors of Mother’s family, and their little sidekick, my mother, were busy exploring on the Oliver Morton place. The two older boys yelled, “It’s a snake!” The boys spotted the snake’s head emerging from one of their father’s knee pads. Erma, the mother of Wayne and Jack, heard the commotion. She rushed out to investigate, arriving just in time to see little Bernyce leaning over the reptile and responding in a matter-of-fact voice, “It’s just an old tuddle.” Wayne and Jack had misjudged the shell of the turtle for one of their father’s knee pads used when harvesting cotton, but not calm little Bernyce; she was fearless.

Mother, Wayne and Jack Herring
in front of the barn on the Oliver 
Morton place. Lisa White Crabtree
is a Bender who descends from
Oliver Morton. Our neighbor to
the south, Betty Hutchison and 
her siblings are cousins of the 
Herring boys.

The Five-Year Old at the Tulsa State Fair
Recently, Mother and I laughed at her running unaccompanied literally all over the Tulsa State Fair. She insisted she was a preschooler. Sure enough, my grandparents were operating the Belford Booth that had won at the Osage County Fair in 1930. Mother was only 5 years old (almost 6) and had never gone to school. Any time she got a nickel or dime, she was at the midway. At almost age 98, she insisted again, she would have been a Dizzy Lizzy if she would have had a Mega Ride Pass! Let's just say it was a different day, and Mom followed the directions from adult strangers if she got lost. She said she would just ask where the building with the booths were and off she would go.

The Daredevil Might Have Made It on a Bomber Crew
Mother and Dad had their first "date" when she agreed to meet him at the carnival of the Osage County Fair in Pawhuska. She was still in high school. He was five years older than she and was already out of school. Dad arrived late. That didn't stop Mother because she loved amusement rides. Since she had time on her hands, she rode with several other guys who asked her to ride. In one sense, that was just fine with Dad. Even though he would later fly twenty-five missions over enemy territory in Europe, he wasn't as wild about amusement rides as Mother.

She Did What in the Bank?
Mother worked in a temporary capacity at the First National Bank in Burbank, Oklahoma. She was filling in for the bank president’s wife while she went to be with their daughter who was having a baby. The stream of customers slowed, and she had caught up all responsibilities she had been assigned. Because she preferred busyness to idleness, Mother began “tidying up” the bank, including dusting the gun case and the guns kept in it! She carefully handled each firearm not concerned that she was violating some policy of "hands off", but merely seeing what needed to be done and doing it. Despite her unusual use of her time while on the clock at the bank, Mother was offered a permanent position at the bank, but instead chose to marry Dad in 1948.

We Had a Good Time
Mother recounts frequently what good young people she and Dad taught at Masham Baptist Church. Usually, she taught the girls’ class with Dad teaching the young men as he often referred to them as. But some of their best memories were the get togethers they had and the silly, fun games they played. Mother still laughs that since she was still in her 20s, she could outrun all the youth, even the boys, when the weather allowed outdoor activities. Most of all she cherishes the faith she saw flourish and remain strong in so many. 

Larry Mitchell, Mother laughing 
heartily, Janice Wolfe, Nancy LeForce,
and unidentified girl.

But Mother does have a serious side and is not a risk taker about important issues. When Thelma Johnson moved to the Bend, she found a friend in Mother, even though she was a bit older than Thelma. The last time I visited with Thelma she told me what a genuine friend Mother was to her when she moved into the Bend.

        Shortly before the Johnson family move to the Bend, Mother courageously professed publicly her faith in Jesus. She was 18 years old. Mother chose to take a stand for Jesus no matter what her friends thought and sometimes found she was the only one not going to certain activities. She remembered being so concerned about Thelma's spiritual condition that she may have bordered on being “pushy.” I can attest now in their 90s, Thelma and J.D. Frank, her husband, who Mother has known longer than Thelma, rely on their strong faith in Jesus. These three Benders share joyfully how meaningful their daily walk with Jesus has been for them.

        Christians ought to be happy people, as Dad liked to say. Mother, even as she approaches 98, believes we should tell everyone that only Jesus gives purpose, contentment, and comfort. Here is a warning from Jesus and His wonderful promise:

The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.