Month: April 2018 | Page 3 | Nancy Lou Henderson

Our Love Begins

Posted by Nancy Lou Henderson in Love Letters | 5 comments

My family, The Blakley’s, moved to Van Vleck, Texas, in the Summer of 1966. My parents, Jim and Mary Blakley, were teachers. I was one of five children, the only girl, and if you were going according to the pecking order, number two. I would be a Junior in High School in the Fall of 1966. Frank had lived in Van Vleck, Texas, and in Sugar Valley, a little community about three miles outside of Van Vleck, for all but a couple of years of his life. Frank was the son of Loren and Peggy Henderson. Frank was the oldest of three children. He had one brother and one sister. Although we were...

The Hayride, Chapter Two

Posted by Nancy Lou Henderson in Love Letters | 4 comments

As President of the MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship), Frank decided to plan some fun events for us all. Since Frank’s Dad owned hay trucks, Frank decided it would be fun to have a hayride. After borrowing his Dad’s hay truck, Frank loaded it with bales of hay placed around all sides so that everyone could sit on top of the hay bales then lean back on the sides of the truck. Frank got in the truck and then headed to my house to pick me up. Then, we drove to the church to pick up all of the other MYF members. When we arrived at the church, everyone was anxiously waiting, then...

New Year’s Eve, Chapter Three

Posted by Nancy Lou Henderson in Love Letters | 8 comments

About a month or so after our first date and during our Christmas break, Jimmy, Frank, and I went to a New Year”s Eve 1967 party in Houston, Texas, which was at my cousin and her husband’s house. We left Van Vleck and went to my cousin’s home, together in my brother’s car. My cousin and her husband already knew Frank because they had met him at my Grandfather’s funeral in December so that Frank would not need introductions. After we arrived at the party, everyone was already in party mode and munching on snacks that my cousin had provided for everyone. The...

A Long Way Home, Chapter Four

Posted by Nancy Lou Henderson in Love Letters | 4 comments

One night after Frank and I left Cains where we had sat and visited with our friends, he asked me if I wanted to take a different road on our way back to Van Vleck to take me home. Frank told me it was a shell road and it was a nice scenic drive which would take us a back way into Van Vleck. Something told me that maybe Frank had something more on his mind than looking at the scenery, especially since it had been raining and there was a creepy fog hugging the ground which made it hard to see anything. I told Frank, “I don’t think we will be able to see anything with the...

February 7, 1968, Chapter Five

Posted by Nancy Lou Henderson in Love Letters | 2 comments

In mid-January 1968, Jimmy and Frank were supposed to register to go back to school at Wharton County Junior College, but after talking with the registrar and my Dad, they decided to enlist in the Army. It seems that they had been spending more time drinking Tall Boy beer and playing pool at a place nearby the college than going to classes. Their grades had also suffered severely. Since going to college and making good grades was their only deferment from being drafted, it was in their best interest to just join the Army. Frank and Jimmy went to a recruiter to talk to him about their best...