CAIN

My Mother, better known as “Sister” to her family, often said that she preferred male conversation to feminine. This might seem strange until you take into consideration that she grew up with seven brothers. Irma Imogene Cain was born in Spadra AR in l918, the sixth child of ten born to Fred and Clara Evelyn Cain; and sadly the only little girl that survived past the age of two.

She recalled with delight that she was nicknamed “Half Pint” and “Cotton Top” as a child and voted the prettiest girl in Norphlet High School when she was in the ninth grade. I’m sure that she got my Dad’s vote, because Imogene Cain has been the love of Jack Braden’s life for these past seventy-four years.

Jack was born in the fall of 1915 and would never know his biological mother who died when he was only nine months old. He was cared for by a neighbor during his mother’s illness, and that dear lady, Callie Braden, took him into her heart and home as her very own on the single condition that she could keep him always. She, along with her husband Joseph, did just that for the next fifteen years until her death.

After graduating from high school, Jack had planned to go to college on a baseball scholarship (he was a great catcher), but that dream never came true when his father, Joseph, became disabled and lost his job right in the middle of the depression. At the age of 19, just out of high school, he got a job with Lion Oil Company, which later merged with Phillips 66. Dad remained with Phillips for over forty-six years from Arkansas to Mississippi, back to Arkansas, and finally to Oklahoma where he retired as a Field Superintendent in Drilling and Production in Oklahoma City in 1981.

Jack and Imogene married in Norphlet 19 Jun 39, and began a life-long pursuit of building a strong marriage, a loving home, and a secure future, not only for themselves, but for their children who became the focus of their lives.

Imogene loved being a homemaker, and she truly lived up to the principle that “whatever thy hand findeth to do; do it with all thy might!” She was a perfectionist pure and simple, but living with a perfections is never simple—it’s hard. She delighted in a clean home, clean and starched husband and children, and an orderly life.

My mom was the busiest person I knew and a very hard act to follow. Holidays mingled the aromas of fresh-waxed floors with the most wonderful smells of delicious food. (The Cain family of my childhood had some great cooks!) She was an excellent seamstress, and I especially remember the pretty recital dresses and Easter Sunday dresses that she made for my sister, Sharon and me. She often would make her own patterns after seeing a cute dress in a dress shop window. You would find her at the sewing machine on most rainy days just as soon as she had finished her housework. She didn’t particularly like gardening or even being outside, but she canned every summer just the same, and our freezer was always full to the brim. Mother insisted on good hot meals, even in the summer time. I thought having a bologna sandwich and Kool-Aid for lunch at the neighbors was a real treat! I have often heard Mother say, “If you don’t spend it on good food, you’ll end up spending it on doctor bills.” I must admit, we were very hardy and seldom ill.

Vacation usually meant going to Grandmamma and Granddaddy Cain’s house. With seven brothers, their wives, and thirty plus cousins, you can just imagine the fun, food, and fellowship. Poor Grandmamma! The women would feed the men first in the dinning room, and all the children in the kitchen. We couldn’t wait to get back to our play and avoid any dirty dishes.

If my Mom was the busiest person I knew, my Dad was the steadiest. He is still easy-going to this day and will be the one to remain calm in the midst of any storm. Every year he makes a garden, loves hunting dove and quail (especially if he has a good bird dog), and dearly loves my mother. Arthritis has slowed him down considerably over the last few years along with a knee replacement; and while most of his gardening is done in an advisory capacity, you will still see him, even at the age of 87, cutting his grass on the riding mower each summer. It is noteworthy that as children, we all hated working in the garden, and yet, today all three of us have gardens for vegetables and flowers. Seeds planted often bear fruit.

One of their grandchildren ask mom and dad one day if they had lived during “The Great Depression” having just studied about it in their elementary school. It was quite an education for the youngster as they related the difficulties of their youth, and I realized the enormous impact it had on my life and the lives of my brother, Charles and my sister, Sharon. It was the strongest influence shaping our lives with the exception of our Christian heritage. It mandated a college education, being thrifty, planning for the future, a strong work ethic, and especially for my mom, a dim view of what she like to call “foolishness”. Church was always a priority, and I’m grateful that very early in their marriage, together, they made it so. Our faith in Jesus Christ that we shared as a family has taken deep roots in each of our families and now (praise God) in our extended families.

Sharon Leigh, who was born in 1940, helped her husband, Jim Wilkie, build a gasoline distribution business in Sarasota FL where they resided for nearly thirty years. After Jim passed away in 1989, Sharon eventually moved back to Oklahoma to be near Mom and Dad and her daughter Tammy (a national marketing director for Juice Plus), son-in-law Jon West (a petroleum engineer), and their three children, Lauren 17, Nathan 14, and Carson 12. Sharon’s son, Scott Wilkie (a realtor) resides with his wife, Wanaka (a pharmacist) in Pasadena CA, where they are expecting their first child in January. Their son, Charles Lyndel, who was born in 1946, graduated from Samford University in Birmingham AL with a degree in Pharmacy and opened his own drug store in Edmond OK in 1974. He met his lovely wife, Cheryl, while attending school. Today they have a daughter Michelle (a dental hygienist), son-in-law Keith Medley (an Oklahoma City police officer), granddaughter Faith Medley 6 months, and a son Michael (a paramedic), daughter-in-law Monica (a registered nurse), granddaughter Autumn 2. Michael and Monica are expecting their second child in May. They all reside in Edmond OK.

Gaylon Cain was born in 1949 and graduated from Central State University in 1971. She resides in Edmond with her husband, Seth Owsley, an Oklahoma City Police Captain. They have one son, Braden, who is attending the University of Oklahoma.

I have heard my parents acknowledge countless times over the years that God had graciously blessed them. One blessing in particular occurred when I was a high school Senior, with Charles already attending college and Mom to soon face the “empty nest”. The church we were attending needed a new director for their Children’s Day Care Center and “out of the clear blue”, as mother would say, they called her and wanted her to consider the position. After twenty-six years of caring for her own children she had the opportunity to pass on what she had learned to so many others. For the next 14 years she would keep us entertained with some of the cutest and often hilarious stories she would bring home about her “Little People” at the Baptist Day Care Center. It was truly one of the nicest blessings of her life.

A dream came true for both of my parents when they built their retirement home on acreage east of Edmond in l979. Mom retired in 1980 and Dad followed shortly after in February, l981. They still live there today with the joy of having almost the entire family nearby.

Today, my mom suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and all the wonderful things that she did for us, we now are privileged to do for her. We still have wonderful family get-togethers, and are so blessed to all live very near each other in Edmond area. If the food is not quite as excellent (without Mom in the kitchen) and if the memories are somewhat bittersweet, we don’t seem to mind; for the time that we have to share has become so very precious.