Today we have a visiting day with Steve’s cousins and his Aunt June. In the morning we enjoy breakfast at a restaurant chain in Oklahoma, Neighborhood Jam. Reminds us of an upscale First Watch. Meals are huge! We meet with Steve’s cousin Deedee and Marsha and Deedee’s husband Allen.

Yep, pictures necessary as these cousins haven’t seen each other in years.

We then drive to Stillwater, OK which is about an hour away – also home of Oklahoma State University where Steve went to school. Aunt June’s birthday is today; she is 86 and her husband Nathaniel is 95. They are still in their home with some daily visiting help and with Deedee visiting several times each week and watching after them.

Aunt June grew up in Jet, OK where we were the other day. She is Steve’s father’s youngest sister and only surviving sibling.

To celebrate her birthday, we order pizza from The Hideaway, an iconic pizza place for OSU students. The Supreme Pizza is the most famous and quite delicious.

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of Nathaniel. He was quite entertaining with telling us his family history. First, both his mother and his father came to Indian Territory as part of the land runs. He said he was the only person he knew who had both parents come in land runs. Second, he was a member of the Thunderbirds during WW2 part of the 45th Infantry Division. He was proud of both of these bits of his life history. He reminded me a lot of my Dad who served in the OSS during WW2.

One other story was talking about wheat harvest and Allen describing a farm implement he placed in their back yard, which Dr. Google identified as a harrow. Allen (a few years younger) didn’t know the name but Nathaniel and Steve did. Wisdom with age! Allen remembers standing on the harrow to keep its spikes firmly planted in the ground as his dad, many years ago, drug it behind a self-propelled plow on their acreage in Cheyenne OK.

Oklahoma is hard-working people who enjoy an easier going life than us ‘city folk.’ The history and stories are a great part of the visiting with Steve’s family.❤️