We walk--he talks

There’s no snow on the ground but it is cold enough—35 degrees with a breeze. Dad and I walk around the block. Four laps make a mile. Dad talks while we walk.

I ask if he remembers cold days in Rexford, KS. He says when they traveled from Dallas to candidate at Rexford Comm. Church, it snowed so hard that the roads closed--towns shut down. They (Dad, Mom and, who knows, probably my brother Robin) stopped on the side of the road just outside Oakley, KS. The kindness of strangers with a truck led to an overnight stay in an underground home—sort of a dugout situation, like a sod house or something.

In a phone call to Rexford, decision makers told Dad that they should head back to Dallas; the storm was too strong. Dad decided to make another run at Rexford. So the next morning they followed behind a truck that led them into town.

As he recalls, the meeting with church leaders was brief and an invitation was extended. Apparently, the Rexford group was concerned that a “city boy”from Dallas might not be able to handle life on the plains. So, if the snow storm was a test--Dad passed.

I never lived in Rexford but grew up hearing lots of stories about it. This was a new one for me.

ram