Brenee Rayburn Taylor

800 S. Bouziden... I loved the fact that no matter what changes life threw at me, I could go home & it would be constant, consistent, & unchanged. It wasn't just a house: it was a home that represented family, security, comfort & happiness.. To have the expectation of writing 35 years of memories down is overwhelming to me. Some of the things that may seem small to others but were big to me-a newspaper was thrown into the driveway every morning (just like on TV),  baby dills in the fridge that never seemed to run out, homemade Ranch dressing,  sitting on the counter an unending supply of crackers, gum, marshmallows, & ice tea… you always had Tony Tigers, PootLoops & Monkey Charms when everyone lived at home. The hours spent around the kitchen table or living room floor playing Yahtzee, checkers, Uno, Speed, Nertz, & dominoes. Never ending conversations and laughter stand out in the greatest way.


The smells that lingered out the front door is another big one for me. Before you walked in, you would know what was hidden behind the closed door: beans cooking on the stove, mopping with pine sol, canning salsa, carrot & onion relish (that was the worst smell), chocolate chip cookies or brownies in the oven, fresh Downey folded clothes on the back of the couch, or Pete was home making Mexican breakfast. 

Even the routines & schedules in the house were constant... If you were sitting at the kitchen table with your little gold mirror putting on make-up earlier than normal you could bet that I would ask "where you going?" 

Some of my favorite memories involved Holidays, especially Christmas time...stockings hung, the same tree with homemade ornaments (except the year you "changed" the tree with one Juan gave you, blah!) the Christmas cards that came in the mail (couldn't wait to hear what Melba's family had accomplished that year), Dirty Santa is the best idea ever because the laughter that comes with that game is the BEST (seventeen).

December was by far the best month of the year with Christmas and all the birthdays it was a guarantee that tostadas would be served twice in one month: once for Brent/Steph's birthday then again for Juan & I.

There were certain "visitors" that came to visit that would always stand out.. I couldn't wait til they came back: the Mata's (and the strawberry preserves), Kitty (her beautiful crochet blankets that sat at the end of your couch), Uncle Freddie singing When a Man Loves a Woman, and Sonny(all the laughter he brought with him).

My most cherished memories was when I came home from the hospital after having Blaene & you had the front door decorated welcoming me home..

when you had the luncheon for me in "my honor" and even put down the lace table cloth.

Memories with my family-even though your kids are not my "biological" siblings they are my brothers & sisters...

Brent- my memory of you is you were always so good with Steph, if she didn't want anyone else she would go to you. I remember you sitting on the stair case with your guitar singing Sister Christian, drums, library of albums, NardBAg and your contagious laugh always brings a huge smile to my face.

Kyla-you always talked to me like I was "big", you taking us swimming with the radio blaring to Jack and Diane, you making me watch Friday the 13th, (look Brenée at the beautiful water, then the hand comes shooting out) (I still hate scary movies), you cleaning the kitchen after every meal top to bottom and never complaining, you blow drying your hair in the mornings before school, your beautiful formals that hung in your closet that I dreamed of growing into, when I wet your bed, you putting make-up on me, and letting me hang out with you & Crystal.

Peetie-when you would make pancakes/French toast with that yummy buttery syrup, watching three stooges, MTV, & dukes of hazard, break dancing, football goal, & look "I'm a piece of frying bacon", Bernard, when the girls would come decorate your bedroom before a track meet, and you falling out of Brent's bedroom window talking on the phone..you said, "Don't tell Mom." 

Juan-playing checkers, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, prank phone calls with you & Kyle, you eating bananas & peanuts (gag me), when you spit in my yummy food just so you could have it, walking in the cement creeks, break dancing, riding bikes, you taking care of me when I had migraines, the candy your dad brought us from the truck stops, the postcards (of giant jackrabbits) from your dad, and laughing til our belly hurts or Dr. Pepper would come out of our noses…



 Steph-I will never forget when you came home from the hospital with chicken pox, I remember what you were wearing & where you were standing & my thoughts when I saw the spots all over your body… 45 records, Savannah Smiles, you escaping by playing the piano, singing to Reba, your 1st day of school, you eating salsa (in the green 1/4 measuring cup) with Lays, dancing to footloose, barbies & babies, Chipper & Joy, playing cards (you always beat me), Coal Miner’s Daughter, fluorescent outfits, Babysitters Club Books, a bushel & a peck & a hug around the neck, playing in the playhouse, swinging on the swing set & you writing my college papers(I always got an A),the last “gathering” we had at 800 S. Bouziden was Savannah’s baby shower, I remember watching you climb up in a chair to hang the decorations.

AuntGranny-you licking the whole side of my face, singing Head Acher, going to Grandma Martinez's and singing as loud as we could in the car, honking the horn under the bridge, tostadas, mashed potatoes, watching M*A*S*H & Dallas, working in the garden, your phone that stretched no matter where you stood in the kitchen, our late night talks, making stockings & ornaments, photo albums FULL of memories (that will always be cherished), pork guiso, picking me up at school in the middle of the day because all I wanted to do was wrap up in Kitty's blanket & watch Coal Miner’s Daughter, when you took out HBO so there was NO more Coal Miner’s Daughter, Saturday morning house cleaning, Pledge, your sun burned legs, getting that motorized car stuck in your hair, your amazing foot rubs and back massages, you giving Buttman my house key & always making things better no matter the circumstance.. My whole heart loves you!

So putting all of this together I realize it's not the house that was constant & consistent: it is all of you that have made my life constant & consistent ...no matter where you are, it will be HOME.

I love you, 
Nay

P.S. Steph is always giving me homework, something to study. This was by far the hardest assignment she has given me, but I enjoyed it the MOST.

Ralph Taylor

Aunt Granny always made me feel comfortable, welcome, and at home in her house. Like I was blood and not an in-law. No matter where the location if Aunt Granny is present she always makes me feel welcomed.

Natalia "Tasha" Bulatova

This house for me was a revelation. It all started with glass door, I walked in it at least three times, each one was very cartoonish and ended up with a little humiliation, huge laugh, and a verse in my song.

Yep, in this house I had a song of my own. And it wasn't a big surprise, because the whole house sang.

With little children voices, Steph and Juan in the shower, Mum humming while cooking, people coming and going, games playing, babies bubbling.

This house was always full of people, joy, care, great food  and laugh. To this day I try to recreate Mum's macaroni in cheese and hot sauce became an obsession.
Mum could do so many things it is impossible even to imagine-do a meal, that was delicious, mend a broken heart, play blokes, do the evil eyes (in that moment you literally disappear with a slight hssss), sing with the kids, wash the babies in the sink, make a harvest of halopeneans that big, I thought it was capsicum and set for hours mouth full of ice cubes, (that episode also got into the song), kill the rattle snake with a shovel (or may be with a glance), do the macaroni angels and thousands things more.

She was, is, and always will be the love, the care, and the soul of this house. I still don't know where she had patience and wisdom for us all, but she did.

Mum I love you with all my heart and miss you every day. One day the door will bang and you'll know that it is me- forehead in a glass door.

Your little shit,
Tasha.

Pete Martinez, Jr

Some of my favorite memories of the house on Bouziden:

Steph was probably about 4 years old, and was standing next to the breezeway where Sharon couldn’t see her from the kitchen. She hollered, “Mommy I want to take a bathie!” and Sharon says, “Oh Stephanie, you don’t need a bath, you already had one today.” I was sitting on the couch listening to every word, but they didn’t know I was listening. Steph put her hands on her hips and she said “But Mommy, I thtink!” and I about lost it. I love that memory.

When I worked for the City, I would find toys, swings, merry-go-rounds, stuff like that at the landfill. I would bring them back and fix them up. One day I found a little bicycle. It had a crooked wheel on the front. I fixed it up for Stephanie. I put brand new training wheels on it, and she would ride it around on the back patio. Some time later, we bought her a big girl bike. I took the training wheels off the little bike and put them on the big bike, but for some reason she wouldn’t ride the big bike, I think because she said it was too big. I was out roter-tilling the garden one day. I stopped to take a break and looked up and she was riding that little bike WITHOUT the training wheels all over the place. It blew my mind! But she still wouldn’t ride the bigger bike WITH the training wheels for a long time after that!

On my off days I would ride our bikes to Steph’s school to pick her up sometimes. Other times I would pick her up in the Beanermobile, and let her and her friends sit on the tailgate on the way home. 

Juan and Sharon would get in arguments and they never would give in to each other. He got mad at her for some reason and he didn’t want to go to school. He told her, “I’ll go to school, but I’m not gonna smile all day and I’m not gonna learn nothin’.”

Peetie was accident prone, but liked to make a ramp to ride his bike on out of a board and a block. He went off that ramp one day, went up in the air and came down in the road. It looked like he had been hit by a car. I never had any idea that much damage could be done just by him riding his bike off a block! He had another accident around the same time… same way, he fell off his bike over by Apple Creek and we had to take him to the hospital again. We had to take to the hospital so many times in Norman, when we walked in the ER, the nurses would say, “Hi, Steven. Back so soon?” They knew him by name!

Once we were babysitting the twins when they were probably 3 years old. They were with me out in the back yard as I was working on the lawn mower. I was looking for my screwdriver. Couldn’t find it. I looked over in the garden. One of them had it, and was digging in the dirt with it. I got up and walked over to where he was at with my screwdriver, came back to the lawn mower, couldn’t find my hammer. The other twin had it and was hammering the big tree with it. I got my hammer and went back to the lawn mower and couldn’t find the coil. The other one had the coil and was playing in the dirt with it in the garden. Every time I came back, the other twin would’ve taken something else away to play with it. I just put my hands on my head and said, “Ohhhhhh…. Forget it.”

I always enjoyed fixing Mexican breakfast when I was off work. It consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, refried beans in bacon grease. Even after the kids were all gone, I would still make the Mexican breakfast and invite them all over. I always enjoyed Kyla coming over for lunch and I always enjoyed Sharon’s spaghetti and homemade chili. I always enjoyed the kids coming by when I was home, dropping in to say hi and visit for a bit before going on with whatever they were doing.

I really appreciate Sharon letting me stay there even after we separated. I always felt welcome and at home. When I was there, I always stayed up late watching TV upstairs. If I wanted a snack, I could come down at any time and make one. I always appreciated her letting me come in for family get-togethers. But I have to admit I was sort of shocked when I came back last Christmas and she didn’t have the Christmas tree up. She always made a pretty tree. It took a lot of hard work to do that every year, and I think we all appreciated that. I always enjoyed seeing both sides of the family there during holidays, the Martinez’s and the Clark’s. I miss the house and I guess I always will. We’ll just have to go by every now and then to see the big oak tree that is still standing in the yard there… 

Savannah Ruttman

Coleman Ruttman

Playing upstairs with those mint (tin) cans and playing on the piano. Playing in that room (bonus room).  And driving Grandma’s car. That was my favorite. – Coleman 

Christian Ruttman

I remember her making tea and playing with Legos at Grandma’s. I liked the gum. –Christian