Angie World

This past Saturday evening, all of a sudden, I thought about my first high school boyfriend and I wondered how he was doing. I very literally have not thought of him in decades. So, I did what any sane person would do, I googled him.

Turns out he is dead, he died two years ago in 2022, to say I was shocked is an understatement. He was just a few months older than I am.

I tried to find an obituary and could not, the funeral home posted a notification of death and said there was no obituary.

I became curious, did he leave a wife, children, I know of at least one brother, is he still alive. Did he leave friends, cousins, anyone that cared about him. 

I flew to the book of faces to see if I could find him, I did, it’s pretty locked down, but I could see one picture of him. Two likes and one comment from a woman that looks to be a relative.

There were no I miss you’s, no other interaction, the last picture was from 2021, a year before he passed.

I went back to the funeral home website, only one person wrote on his memorial page. 

Arthur Kent King, we met at Tulsa Vo-Tech, he was loud, obnoxious and it was instant teenage love. He was from Broken Arrow so it was perfect as I did not want to date anyone from Owasso. My family was too entrenched in Owasso, I wanted someone no one knew.

He was perfect, we argued, made up, fought, laughed and both loved OU. 

A perfect teenage union, I remember the last time we fought, it was for good, we were over. I went home and cried buckets over that boy. He was the love of my teenage heart.

I would go on to marry and have children and forget about him in any capacity except for a sweet memory. 

We were in Photo-Offset Lithography together, his family owned a print shop, among other things. He told me his mom was a doctor and his dad owned businesses, construction, print shop and other things.

My family did not own those things, we were not equal economically, but we were equals intellectually and both fluid in sarcasm.

I don’t really know what his home life was like but I do remember one story he told us, mainly because as a class we forced him to.

He came to school completely bruised up one day, I mean from head to toe. We were all shocked and wanted to know what happened. Who had he angered with his sarcasm and argumentative way.

After much brow beating he told us the tale.

His dad had told him to do something and Kent (we all called him Kent) said you do it. I don’t know about y’all but those would have been fighting words in my home and apparently they were in his as well.

Anyway he said his dad looked at him and said oh do you think you are man enough to say that in my house?

Then Kent bowed up at him and his dad, having been a middleweight boxer in the army, went and got boxing gloves from a closet.

Then they went into the backyard and his dad said this is your chance, do your worst. Needless to say Kent never got a lick in and his dad taught him a life lesson. Obey your parents, it’s their house, not yours and watch your mouth.

I am saddened by the lack of care and lack of an obituary, everyone deserves at least an accounting of their life. I hope he died surrounded by loved ones and that they keep his memory alive.

I may never know what happened and why he died at such a young age, and yes, 58 is young. 

I’ll always remember him as my great teenage love.

Do you ever sit back and wonder where the time went? There are three specific days I do that, today is one of them.

Happy Birthday Thomas Alexander Graham Bell! I can’t believe you are 33 years old today, the memory of you being born is so crisp and clear it feels like yesterday. In all honesty I wanted you to be born on the 13th as that is a good luck day in our family but that day the year you were born was a Saturday and since you were a planned C-Section my doctor vetoed that. 

He did ask why and I told him and he said he was not giving up his Saturday for that reason. He was pretty funny about it, so the twelfth it was. 

Your Granny Dee and Great Grandpa Wells came down to take care of your brother and sister while we were at the hospital having you.

It was a bright sunny, Texas summer day, the nurse thought you were our first child based on our excitement to see you. When we explained you were actually our fourth child she was shocked. She said people who are on number 4 are usually blasé about a new baby.

We were eager to meet you and tell you how much you we loved you.

You were and continue to be a constant surprise, your intelligence, humor and commitment to your family is something to see.

I am in awe of you and so proud of the man you have become. I pray every day that God continues to bless you, with your beautiful family and in your business life. 

I value our conversations and I am ever grateful that God gave you to us. Our family was completed when you made your appearance. 

Your sister nicknamed you Mr Sunshine face due to your sunny disposition as a baby. You woke up smiling and laughing, you reminded me so much of my dad, your grandpa. He always had that sunny disposition as well, along with being sensible and pragmatic. You come by your personality honestly, I see generations of Testermans in you.

I hope you have the best day EVER, I love you so much, I hope that your day is filled with the love and laughter of your sweet daughters and amazing wife.

Happy Birthday Thomas Alexander!

What does it mean when you get what you pray for? In my case it means a daughter, not just any daughter, but one of strong moral character. One who has a very clear definition of right and wrong, cut and dry, black and white. One who knows what she wants out of life and runs toward it full speed ahead.

I prayed for a beautiful dark haired, dark eyed daughter, one that had strength of character and yes, physical strength. One needs that to survive in this world.

Trust me when I tell you I received what I prayed for and then some. I could never imagine the woman she would grow up to be.

I love you so much Elizabeth Anne, I pray for you still. I pray you have peace and great joy in your life.

I want for you to always remember how much you were wanted, prayed for and loved. Before you were born, more so after. I am proud every single day to call you my daughter.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth Anne, I hope it is your best one yet,

Love,

Mom

January 13, 1934, a day that will be forever special in our family. Why you ask, and thank you for asking, I never tire of telling people about this day.

It is the day Foy and Odela got married, the day that started everything. I know I usually talk about how their love impacted me and our whole family but I was recently reminded that they had a larger impact.

I was contacted recently by someone in the Owasso community, I don’t know if I am supposed to say her name so I will not. However, those that grew up in Owasso and, more importantly, went to church at the First Freewill Baptist Church in Owasso will put two and two together.

The woman that contacted me was one of four sisters, my mom and dad LOVED this family and those girls. The girls would even sing in church, they were all 4 beautiful in soul, physically and had beautiful singing voices. One even sang at our mother’s funeral.

The woman sent me a message and reintroduced herself, of course I remembered her and her family. I had last seen her mother at our brother Jesse’s funeral.

She began by telling me how much our parents had meant to them through the years. How she told her children and her grandchildren about Grandma and Grandpa Testerman. Have I ever mentioned that everyone called them that? And that they loved it? They did, they earned it, by being kind, considerate, loving and welcoming.

I digress, she went on to ask if I would mind sharing some pictures of them with her, so she could show her children and grandchildren what they looked like.

I stared at the message for a minute, as it took me back to a place and time I love. I answered back of course I would not mind and asked if it would be ok if I did it in a little bit because at that moment I was busy taking down all of the Christmas decorations. If anyone knows me they know if I get distracted, and I easily do, the job will wait another week. She graciously said take your time. I did ask about her family, she told me how they were all doing and how her mother is doing. They lost their father a few years back.

After I finished with my task I sat down and sent her three photos. My mother’s favorite of them together, taken in the 1950’s, their last professional photo taken before my dad passed and lastly, my favorite photo of them.

The woman thanked me and went on to tell me how my mother encouraged her when she had her first baby. How their example of Christian love to this day influences her and her sisters.

She reminded me of how my parents, with their life example of putting Christ first, then each other, then family reached more than just their four children and grandchildren. 

It was a profound moment and one that brought me to prayer and tears. The good tears, the ones where you are just thankful that you won the lottery with the parents you were given.

I will put their pictures here, the ones I sent and you can see for yourself how beautiful they were and how their legacy continues. I am also going to add one, of their 50th wedding anniversary with them and their children and children’s spouses. Mine at the time, I don’t feel right editing him out as he is part of that history.

I hope they are having the best celebration in heaven, that they are rejoicing and singing and having cake! I cannot imagine heaven without cake.

As you all know, or should by now, I am a huge Star Trek fan. I have been since I was 5 years old and saw the very first episode. I was transported to a different world, a different time, a future with immense possibilities. 

Since then Star Trek has continued to never disappoint, with its many movies and spinoffs. New generations continue to discover the greatness that I have always known.

The newest incarnation, Strange New Worlds gives us amazing insight to beloved characters. A glimpse of their origins, we finally get the fully story of Captain Pike, we first heard of him in Star Trek the Original Series. 

The Menagerie gave us all a small inkling of what came before. Before Captain Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Chekov, Sulu and even Nurse Chapel. 

What formed the Enterprise we all know and love, what made Spock, well, Spock, the unrequited love Christine Chapel had for him. That just didn’t happen overnight, and now we know.

This series gives us the answers we never knew we needed. Anson Mount as Christopher Pike is a breath of much needed fresh air. We all know this series has an experation date and it does not skirt around that. It comes back to it time and again, we know what happens to him. If you are new to the Star Trek world please watch the Original series, you will love it.

This show is well written, well acted, well directed and the story lines honor our beloved series that started everything.

We have finished the second season of Strange New Worlds and it just keeps getting better and better.

I don’t want to give too much away, but there is a musical episode that rivals Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Once More with Feeling. So much so that I had to google if anyone from that world was in the writing room. No one that I can find so far, there is a throwaway line about bunnies. If you know, you know.

We see Spock as a science officer, not the captains number one, we see Uhura as a newly minted communications officer, we see Christine Chapel as the amazing nurse she always was.

The characters are as we love them but more nuanced, we get background information that we never knew we needed. But we did and we love it. We also get to see Number One, the one in the Menagerie, she is, of course, a move well rounded character than we first met.

When I say it is literally one of the best spinoffs of the Original, that is not hyperbole, that is fact.

Pike knows he has an expiration date, he know what will happen to him in the future and he is not trying to change his fate. Refreshing in a show that delves into time travel and changing the past and the future.

One of the best parts is directing each episode with my nephew, Todd. He has insights that I missed and sometimes I have to rewatch the episodes to see what he caught that I didn’t. Before you think he is young, he’s older than I am and retired military. He looks at the show with different eyes than I do and catches things I don’t and I hope vice versa.

I look forward to the writers and actors strike to be done as Season 3 has been given the green light.

Until then I urge you to watch, it is on Paramount +, the only reason I pay for the subscription is they have ALL of the Star Treks. Well worth the price of admission.

August 29, 1985, a day I will never forget, it is the day my heart began to heal. Rainbow baby was not a term used in those days but it is what you are. The day you were born was both terrifying and joyous, then they said you were born with water on your lungs.

Those 5 days when you were in the NICCU were excruciating, when the one doctor told me you would never be “normal” it was infuriating. I admit I may have had a few choice words for him.

You did grow up to have perfectly normal lungs, a few normal childhood illnesses but all in all perfectly, beautifully normal.

You were always funny and bright, of course an incredibly beautiful boy. Always saying the funniest things, to this day I don’t know where you got some of those things. Other things I know exactly where they came from. Your dad liked to tell you outrageous things and thought it was hysterical when you repeated them. 

After we moved to Texas, I discovered Lord and Taylor and Neiman Marcus, important to the story, I promise. When you were three we were in Lord and Taylor, on the escalator, two older ladies were in front of us.

I was very pregnant with your sister, fingers swollen, so no wedding ring, you turned and looked at me and said, in your very loud 3 year old voice, “Why won’t you marry my dad???” 

The two older women turned, with eyebrows raised, stared at me, as I turned beet red. I said honey your dad and I are married, mommy just can’t wear her ring because of swollen fingers.

Then the next words were well why won’t you let daddy have a girlfriend. 

Needless to say we very quickly left without me spending any money. 

You have always been quick witted and so smart, I’ve always been amazed at how your brain works.

There are so many memories I could go on about, Grandpa Reno giving you that first taste of candy. 

Climbing to the top of the refrigerator, making your mothers heart literally stop.

Tying your brother up, (along with Daniel)  and waiting for him to get himself out of it.

I hope your birthday is the best ever, you deserve all of the best. You were literally my gift from God, my Rainbow, even thought I didn’t know you were a Rainbow. 

I am so proud of the man you have become, your beautiful family you created. Happy Birthday Son! I love you so much!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and I’ll say it in the future, the beginning of August is hard. The end of August is incredible.

Today, August 9, is my son Michael’s birthday, I still remember every moment of that day.

I was past due and the doctor decided to induce labor. At one point the pain was so intense and it was not a labor pain it was in my hips, it felt like he was sideways pushing outward. I told the doctor this and he said oh yeah if you get up and walk that pain will go away. I said great let’s do it, he said no you’re doing fine. I said what, he reiterated he did not want me to walk, I said fine, get me some Demerol, he said no, it was at this point my inner sailor came out. 

I grabbed him by the tie and pulled him close and said if you do not get me some **&&^% pain killer you will not see one *&^%$%^&**&^%%% red cent. I then let go of his tie with a flourish and he angrily walked out of the door.

My husband at the time, Michael (and all of my children’s) father looked at me and said I didn’t even know you knew those words. I then turned my glare to him and he backed away slowly.

It was then the nurse walked in laughing with a needle and said honey I don’t know what you said to him but he is red faced and mad. I looked at her and said give me the meds.

Later, after intense labor, Michael’s heart rate dropped drastically and it was decided an emergency c-section was needed.

The cord was wrapped around his neck twice, he would not have survived a natural birth.

But he was there and crying and huge! He weighed in at 8 pounds and 10 1/2 ounces.

He was beautiful and perfect and my world was complete.

It was short lived, a mere 12 weeks later he was gone, SIDS, I don’t want to relive that day, it comes soon enough.

While he was here he brought so much joy, this birthday is particularly poignant, you see Michael has been reunited with the one he was named after. Michael Marino Barsi, he is now with his grandpa Reno, I find comfort in that. 

Reno loved that little boy so much, he was his first grandson, that in itself made him special. They had a bond from the beginning, Reno could make Michael belly laugh at a young age I know he grieved Michael as much as we did.

I know that this heavenly birthday will be special, it will be a first with his grandpa Reno, perhaps my mom will bake her famous coconut cake. My dad, mom, brothers and Grandpa Reno will sing happy birthday. I can actually picture it and it is soothing.

Happy Birthday Michael, mommy misses you so much, every single day. I love you and know I will see you again one day.

July 12, 1991, it is a day that is etched in my memory. The day Thomas Alexander made his grand appearance. 

The day was a hot, sunny, not a cloud in the sky kind of Texas day.

Normal for July in every way but one, my beautiful baby boy was joining the population that day.

Alex from the day you were born I loved you immeasurably, you added to our family in ways you cannot begin to imagine. Three is a magical number and you were number three.

You were perfection from the start, born with your dark hair, that turned blond like your brother before you, your dark eyes that had a hint of mischievousness, your infections smile. You completed us as a family unit, you were and are very much loved.

You were a happy, precocious baby and toddler, a curious child, always taking things apart. Eager to learn from the start, there is nothing you cannot accomplish.

I am so proud of you, I am proud of how much you have overcome to get to where you are.

A husband, a father, a business owner and an amazing son, you have a lot to be proud of.

I am thankful that when God was handing out souls He decided to hand yours to our family.

I hope you have an amazing birthday son, I hope your life is filled with laughter and love and wonder.

Just remember, taking time out of your busy schedule to enjoy the fruits of your labor is not a waste of resources or energy. It is a must, to reenergize and to rejuvenate so you can continue to grow and give all areas of your life the attention it deserves.

Happy Birthday son, I love your so much,

Mom