A GOLDEN TRIBUTE
Opal and Walter Bourlier - Married 50 Years
The summer sun, gold and proud, climbed slowly into the Oklahoma sky proclaiming yet another day. This day was Sunday, the 22nd of September, and the year was 1929. As that big gold sun swept its rays westward, it shown on freshly plowed fields ready for the annual sowing of wheat. The fields were fertile and promised to yield a good crop.
But for Opal White, and Walter Bourlier, this was a special day. For this was the day they had chosen to become man and wife.
T’was more than chance that their lives should be joined during this sowing season, for this was the season for new beginnings, for fresh starts. I think the big fellow up stairs knew this and planned it this way.
The ceremony was small, only Florence, Cressley, Walter’s parents and maybe a few others. The decorations of white floral paper bells and sunflowers were pretty and helped make Elva Brown’s house, where opal lived, an appropriate setting.
The vows were said without flourish, but the feeling behind those vows were strong. They weren’t taken lightly. They were a bond started by a deep mutual love and respect. For as the seeds were planted in that Oklahoma earth that fall, another seed had been planted.
The spring of 1930 saw those seeds push forth their crop as if to show the whole world. "Look at me" they seems to say. "Were something special".
Walter and Opal began to grow also. They moved to a farm 40 miles west of Clovis New Mexico with a 1929 model case tractor, a used baldwin combine, an old setting hen with a nest of eggs, and all of their worldly belongings. Raising crops wasn’t easy, and neither was growing a marriage during the dust bowl days of New Mexico. I’m sure that many is the time when Opal wished for a house that would hold back the driving winds and dust. And it gets pretty disgusting to see three our of four crops fail. But the union held. It held because of a woman who stood by her man, and a man who didn’t know the meaning of the word quit.
They were smart enough to see that the time for that farm wasn’t right, so they moved in closer to Clovis, and Walter worked for a year at a service station before moving back to Oklahoma. They brought back most of what they took out and also three more little seeds that took root in the New Mexico dust. They were of course, Peggy, Jean, and Vivian.
After a brief stay in the Vicksburg community and with a little help from his dad, Walter bought a place called the Hi Swartz farm. It soon lost that identity and became known simply as "home".
Yes the seed was growing. It’s strong stem had pushed aside the crusted ground, it’s roots reaching deeply for the nourishment of the earth, while anchoring themselves in a foundation of strength and love, strong enough to meet the test of time.
They were now four shoots off this fast growing little plant, the latest of which sprouted in Oklahoma soil. They called him Tommy. Now the family was complete, and a house had become a home. Not by the mere birth of a baby boy, but because of love, security, tenderness, and the close family bond that had grown.
Throughout the years, the children grew and so did the family. Mother and daddy grew also. They worked together, played together, shared together, and yes even cried together. They shared the bitter sweet taste of seeing their children grow up, all the time trying to enrich their lives with trust, honesty, hard work, and sentiment. They measured each ingredient carefully because a foundation with too much sand will crumble, and one with too much rock will crack. Using knowledge gathered over the years they worked together to mix a mortar which these children could use to make foundations for homes of their own.
We didn’t have a lot of material goods in those early days, but we kids didn’t know it. That’s the beauty of it. We always had enough to eat and those Purina feed sack shirts and dresses were better than store bought, cause mom made them special with her own hands. Yes, we grew as a family, rich in love and guided by loving arms, and a butter paddle, which we hoped would break.
We all had our jobs at home. We all, girls included, learned to plow on that 1929 model case tractor. Vivian even found it very useful for chasing baby quail on. Of course she left a furrow that was a little hard to follow. I’m sure we all remember how hot that iron seat could get.
The years sped by, crops came and went. There were good ones and bad ones, but through it all, mom raised us kids and dad, well he built that farm from right out of the dirt. They worked as a team even when times got rocky.
It’s not easy for two strong willed people to make a go of it. But the cross words and frustrations seemed to bring them closer together. It showed that those vows taken some 25 years ago were not taken lightly.
We kids used that mortar and built our foundations. As when we were kids, we were kind of forgetful and sometimes got the mixture wrong, but we would mix again, get it right, and repair the cracks. Somehow dads words kept coming back, "It takes work."
Suddenly our lives were shaken right to the roots of that foundation. Some crops are harvested before others because it takes them less time to ripen. So must some of us go before others. Jean was chosen to precede us, but her joy for life, and the love she gave us collectively and individually will live with us forever.
The summer sun, gold and proud climbed slowly into the Oklahoma sky, proclaiming yet another day. This day is Saturday the 22d of September, and the year is 1979. As that big gold sun swept it’s rays westward this morning, it again showed on freshly plowed fields ready for sowing. A half-century has passed since the crop of 1929. Those seeds planted that fall have grown tall and turned golden in the sun. Each head is long and full and heavy with grain and stands tall and proud. The Elva Brown house still stands strong, as does the marriage of mom and dad who were married there 50 years ago today.
These lines are ended, for it is difficult to adequately express a feeling that goes as deep as the love and admiration that we hold for you both. May the Lord who joined you richly bless every day of your lives. Mother and Daddy, we love you so very much. congratulations,
Your Young’ns