Kyla Martinez Myers

My Home

800 South Bouziden

At the age of 11, the year of 1978, during the middle of my 6th grade year is where my memories of 800 South Bouziden begin.  I was utterly terrified, yet so incredibly excited to begin a new life.  

Pulling up into the steep driveway, getting out and bolting to the front door, I can still hear mom yelling “go up stairs and pick which room you want.”  I felt as though we were the richest people ever to have such a huge mansion! Brent, Peetie, Juan and I ran up the stairs all of us wanting to get to the top before the other, in order to get first dibbs.  We each headed in different directions, I don’t recall ever fighting about the choices we made.  I think we were all so excited to have our own rooms it really didn’t matter!  I chose the south bedroom, so big and spacious a room of my very own, I even got to choose what colors I wanted to use for decor!  Lime green and yellow had to have been popular in 1978 because I can’t imagine using those colors today!  That’s what I wanted and that is what I got!  I loved my room so much that I spent most of my time there. I have many good memories in my room however, the one that sticks out more than any is of, my best friend Crystal spending the night. She and I would stay up all night playing UNO and drinking sweet tea. We would lay across my bed and see who could pinch who the hardest with our toes, Crystal was always the winner, as her toes were much longer than mine!  

As I grew into a teenager, 800 South Bouziden was always a place to bring our friends.  It was a home that anyone who walked through the door felt at home.  Mom would always have enough food for one or two more people as she never knew who would be staying for dinner, which was always at 5:00 o’clock not a minute before or after!  At 5:00 o’clock your ass better be in your seat!  Many, many good deep conversations took place at the dinner table, after the kitchen was cleaned of course.  The dinner table was a place of comfort, where you felt safe to play a game or pour your heart out!  One day I came home to my best friend Robyn pouring her heart out to mom at the dinner table, that day I realized that I could never leave Robyn alone with mom, as she and I both learned that she could never lie to my mom!  Any question that mom asked, no matter what it was, Robyn could not say anything but the truth the whole truth!! Another memory that comes to my mind is of, Mom, Davis and Dalton having a lil tea party with mom’s lil china tea set, baby dill pickles, cubes of cheese and sweet tea made with love, it was precious!  They were eager to invite me to join them and I of course was eagar to oblige!  It never mattered how many people were gather at the table, there was always room for another chair to pull up and join in!!  

Friday nights were family movie nights, we would gather in the living room, after renting a VCR and a new release from Movies Etc...  With freshly popped pop corn and snickers bars we would curl up with blankets, kids all over the living room floor ready to enjoy a movie.  I would have to say one of my fondest memories of the living room at 800 South Bouziden is having Christmas’s with all of the Clark Family gathering in what we thought of being a large room becoming so small packed with family members of all ages singing Christmas Carols while dad and Sonny played their guitars together seated on the fire place hearth.  Lots of love and laughter filled our hearts with joy in that living room during those precious times!!!     

I could fill a book with priceless memories of 800 South Bouziden!  It was a special place filled with special people, my family, my home.  Though it is gone our memories will live on forever, never to be forgotten!  

Home is where your heart is……………

Kyla Elaine Martinez Myers

Don Myers

One of the many memories of the old house was the first time I went over to meet Kyla’s parents. At that time Kyla was 20 years old and I was 34.  I remember stepping into the living room and Sharon looked up at me and said hello, I can’t imagine what she was thinking at the time, but I felt relaxed and welcome.  Soon after during family gatherings, I remember sitting at the dinner table being interrogated by her aunt’s about my past, so I learned real quick that if you were sitting at the dinner table you better be eating!  

Brent Martinez

Mom,

I loved this house so much. I remember the first time I ever saw it. It was nothing but 2X4’s and its frame. We walked all around and walked upstairs and we could see all the way to … Pauls Valley!! I was so happy for our family and excited to move to Moore. Moore was the cool place to live then. It was the best feeling in the world.

I remember me and Dad planting the tree in the back. That tree still has most of its branches, all the other trees around there have been stripped. It’s crazy to think that tree probably saved your life! 

I used to climb on the roof to look for tornados! Hahaha Mom’d come outside, it’s storming, “Brent! What are you doin up there? Get your ass down!”

We accidently lit the whole field on fire one time. Somebody lit a firecracker and threw it and it landed in the whole box of fireworks and caught the back field on fire. We had to get the water hose and put it out.

Sitting on the back porch at the table, drinking tea, smoking cigarettes. All the Thanksgivings and Christmases. 

I’m going to miss it so much. 

Love you,
Brent

Pauline Martinez

Oh the memories at Sharon and Pete’s house – where do I begin??

Sharon’s house was my ‘home away from home’ for many, many, many years. She always made me feel like her daughter and her home was my home. Michael and Brandon always LOVED to go to Grandma’s! 

They knew immediately where to go for tea and the candy/snack jars…at the age of only a few months old! And, of course, they knew where the butterflies were in the kitchen.

I will never forget all the fun times playing dominoes with the family surrounding the dining room table. I was an ‘in-law’ and was never ready to go home! Haha! The Christmases in the living room with all the wrapping paper everywhere…all the gifts mixed up no one knew whose was whose....

What fun and memories made there. I will miss the bonus room and the firefighter room.  

Sharon and Pete, thank you for inviting me into your home on 800 S. Bouziden in Moore Oklahoma in 1986! ….I will ALWAYS remember that house even though it is gone….it will live forever in my heart.

I love you both and thank you again from the bottom of my heart!
Pauline 

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.