LATEST NEWS

CANCER TREATMENT

I have completed my radiation treatment, but won't know for several months whether it was successful. Hopefully, the doctors caught the cancer in time and all will be right in the end. Right now the end is pretty sore and I am still suffering some fatigue. But hope remains, and I am planning great new adventures.

WEDDING BELLS ARE RINGING

Elaine Miller has consented to be my bride and we will be wed on June 28th at The Wedding Chapel, Chickasaw and Sixth Streets, Claremore, Oklahoma. Our simple wedding ceremony will be at 11:00 AM. A barbeque and potluck reception will be held immediately after on the deck with the Paines. Our July honeymoon will include a trip to the California Redwoods where we will attend the reunion of the Bud and Marie Paine descendents. Then on to Oregon to visit Elaine's brother. We would like to come back home via Yellowstone and the Black Hills but that may be thwarted by the price of gas. We have requested that our friends and relatives not send wedding presents, though, in a moment of weakness, I did consider setting up a wedding registry at Shell and Exxon.

JULY 4TH TIME CAPSULE

Our neighbors are planning another huge Fourth of July celebration, inviting friends, neighbors, relatives and employees. Lots of good food and entertainment using a "redneck" theme this year. The big event at the festivities is celebrating my June 30th Birthday, number seventy, and burial of a time capsule. I'm putting in my part, but seriously doubt that I will be around for the opening twenty-five years hence, and it I am here I probably won't remember what a time capsule is. But a guy can hope!

DONNA'S MEMORIAL

Elaine and I are planning a memorial garden for Donna. It will have a flower decked arbor, a small water feature and plantings of flowers and herbs, all things Donna loved. The neighbors have volunteered to help do the heavy work. We expect to complete it sometime in August and will scatter Donna's ashes there in early Fall. I am sure it will be an emotional experience for my neighbors and myself. I still miss her greatly, in spite of my new love. Elaine is very understanding and, in fact, it was she who came up with the idea of a memorial.