15 Cousins, Family and the Boron Connection
We arrived about 4:00 PM. Betty and Boyce insisted that we stay with them. They looked great, especially considering the aforementioned rumor from Brother Bob. We had dinner at Able’s Bar-B-Q, a place already highly rated by our new friends in McAlester. Great fun remembering our pasts together in Boron, Cailfornia. At age 25 I moved my family to Boron and bought a little grocery store. There we found that I had two 3rd cousins, Boyce and Betty Couch and Jack and Lee Neal. I spent 7 years selling food in that little town. Boyce gave me a ride in the giant ElectaHaul truck down into the open pit. Their son, Hershel worked for us in the store form age 12 to 16. Hershel worked for US Borax for several years then became a Prison Guard. A tough job that required a tough guy. He is driving toward us from California and we will see him tomorrow.
After dinner we drove out to the cemetery and learned a few more family history tid-bits. Boyce’s aunt, Minerva was born Minerva Raper. She was my grandfather Melvin’s older sister. She and her husband George Neal took my grandmother in at age 12 when her parents died. It was then that my grandmother Rebecca met and married Melvin. Later when they divorced Minerva or Aunt Nervy, took my mother in at age 3 and she lived there for several years. We didn’t get all the details about Melvin but do know that he was a BOOT LEGGER and probably went to prison? Another little sister of my mother, Hester, only lived 1 1/2 years. She is buried near Uncle George and Aunt Nervy.We also learned that Reba McIntyre of Country Western and TV fame is related. Her grandmother was also a Raper.
Uncle George & Aunt Nervy
Baby Hester Raper
Reba's Grandma
Hi Guys,
Sounds like your family and mine are related … some were famous and same were criminals and some were both famous and criminals. Welcome to my family.
Jack
Hey BROTHER, is this that 7 degrees of sepeation thing?? Great talking on the 4th. Happy BD to Adrienne, the Yankee Doodle DAndy!! P & C
Kudos to you guys for making the link to your kin past and present. Some of your kinfolks are a tad like mine. I have also dug up some very interesting items thru ancestry.com. If I had your money and get up and go, I would do as you’re doing which is more fun. An old smart person (wise ass?) once said to a rich guy, “If I had your money I’d burn mine.” Sounds apropo in our case. Keep up the good work. C U guys whenever your ETA back home.
If you had our money you’d better save a nickle for the match. Hey borther Bill and sister Norma, the way we do this is, rento ur house and try to live on what we’re getting. We don’t have a lot of $$$$ but with Social Security and rents we are able to have a fairly good life. Lifestyle, now that’s up to the indiviual. Most we know wouldn’t rent their house OR ride bikes for hours just to see places and meet GRAT people, sort of like YOUR GUYS.
Love Pat & Cat
Our Yale Place house will be for rent when we go to WA. John/Susan Herrick will manage it. We were neighbors in Hawaii during (70s) Navy days. I (Bill) do my share of pedalling the longest of which is 55 miles – UCSB to Oxnard. Just a dash to the ice cream shop for you. Our son, Dom, who has tree trunk for legs does much more. We go together sometimes. In recent months, I have pedalled more while in San Diego (daughter Jenny – Navy wife – lives there). Ohms (that’s Norma) can’t ride a bike even with training wheels. She knows how much fun she is missing. Why how she never learned is a long story. We’ll tell you later. But she is happiest when she is in the kitchen cooking up a storm – lumpia, pancit, adobo, et al. No complaints from her husband who loves to eat. Anyway, your daily blog is so much fun to read. Keep it up and we’ll C U guys sometime soon. God bless you both. We wish you fair winds and following seas (maybe rain?) Ta Ta
Tell John and Susan we said HI. Okay, we’ll take a bike ride while Norma cooks up some fantastic Fillapino Delicasies. We are cycling in what they call here Tornado Alley. That means most of the time we have a tail wind. Today we had trolling hills and a slight head wind. Change of weather headed this way. Rain over the weekend. (“It is only WATER!” My friend Mr Wang in China describing rain.)