A tribute to my mom

My parents met when Mom's family moved in across the road from the farm where Dad grew up. As the story goes all the area kids would meet up at the corner by Dad's house and walk to school together. He had heard the Weed family had a teenage daughter and they met on the walk to school. On May 15 of this year they will celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary. They now live in an assisted living center in Purcell, Oklahoma.

MY MOM: Maskell Lee (Weed) Stone turned 90 years old in March. She has lived a long and full life. Most of her life was as a stay at home mom and devoted wife. Her devotion to the home and family allowed my dad to follow his career which required a large amount of travel.

Mom's family had moved around a lot during her younger years. Her dad, my Grandpa, worked in the oilfield and they followed him from place to place when he found work. She was about 16 when they moved in to the old house across from my dad's family farm in Byars, OK. Due to their moving around she was a grade behind most kids her age. She was still in school when my folks got married and she wound up dropping out while in the eleventh grade. She had an older sister and a younger brother. There had also been an older brother but he had died as a child. (Today, she is the only surviving member of her immediate family.)

In 1937 my folks left the farm and moved to Oklahoma City so my dad could start building a career. She seldom worked outside the home and supported Dad in his endeavors. During the following years she made a home for the family and reared four sons. She was always there to help heal the wounds, wipe the runny noses and do all the other things that a mom does. Mom did not drive a car until later in life. When Dad was not available to drive her she would rely on public transportation. I can remember many times that she and I would catch the bus in front of our house in South Oklahoma City to ride downtown for a day of shopping and maybe a movie. I was the youngest of the boys and by this time the older ones had other things to do. When Mom finally made up her mind to learn to drive I was a Junior in High School, which was about a mile from our house. She enrolled in the school's adult institute which met at night. She walked to the school and back two nights a week for a semester to take driver's ed. She got her driver's license just before Christmas that year and Dad bought her a new 1966 Rambler Classic.

Over the years my mom became my best friend and the person I could talk to about anything. When I got out of the Navy, the first time, in 1970 I lived back at home for a while. I would often come in after Dad had gone to bed but Mom would be up and we would sit and talk about things. She was about the most leveled headed person I have ever known. As the years have passed and we'd wondered down the roads that life has brought us she was always there to support and encourage us. When we made mistakes, needed to back up and take a different direction she was always our best supporter.

As the years have gone by Mom has seen her health fail and the last few years she has suffered with dementia that has gotten progressively worse. Today she has good days and bad days. She pretty much knows us boys when we visit but does not always get our names correct or at all. I miss the mom I remember growing up but she is still my mom and one of the most wonderful women I have ever known.