216 S. FRISCO....TULSA

A LITTLE BACKGROUND.....BERTHA FISHBACK WAS MARRIED AT 16 YRS OF AGE TO A JOHN FISHBACK.  MY FATHER TOLD ME HE WAS CONSIDERED "A CATCH" IN THE SMALL TOWN OF VINITA, OKLAHOMA.  JOHN WAS A FLOP AT BUSINESS AND WHEN HE WAS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ANOTHER MAN, THAT OTHER MAN EMBEZZELLED ALLOT OF MONEY FROM THE BUSINESS.  JOHN THREW IN THE TOWELL.  EVENTUALLY, THE FAMILY MOVED TO TULSA IN 1922.  JOHN FOUND A JOB WITH THE TULSA WORLD PAPER,  SOMETHING HAPPENED AND HE WAS EVENTUALLY  LET GO.  JOHN'S MENTAL HEALTH DETERIORATED AND HE WOUND UP AT EASTERN STATE HOSPITAL WHICH WAS A MENTAL INSTITUTION.  MY FATHER TOLD ME MANY YEARS LATER THAT HE VISITED HIS FATHER THERE, AND JOHN WAS IN  HIS ROOM AND WAS IMAGINING HIMSELF AS UMPIRE AT A GAME....MY DAD SAID HE WENT OUTSIDE AND "WEPT BITTERLY". MY DAD'S SISTER, MILDRED, CAME DOWN WITH POLIO WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT THREE AND REMEMBERED TO ME THE LAST TIME SHE WALKED. SHE WAS WALKING DOWN A ROAD AND JUST FELL, NEVER TO GET UP AGAIN.  SHE RECOVERED FROM THE DISEASE, BUT IT LEFT HER CRIPPLED AND ONE SHOULDER SHRIVELED.  BERTHA, DAD, AND MILDRED MOVED TO TULSA AND RENTED A SMALL HOUSE NEAR DOWNTOWN.  GRANDMA MADE SOME MONEY SCRUBBING WALLS AND THE LIKE.  DAD QUIT HIGH SCHOOL IN ORDER TO WORK TO HELP SUPPORT THE FAMILY.  BYE THE WAY, THEY LIVED NEXT DOOR TO A FAMILY NAMED LORANTZ AND THE BOY'S NAME WAS PAUL LORANTZ.  HE USED TO COME OVER TO THE FISHBACK HOUSE TO VISIT.  PAUL LORANTZ BECAME KNOWN LATER AS PAUL HARVEY OF PAUL HARVEY NEWS.  YEARS AGO I WROTE MR HARVEY AT HIS OFFICE IN CHICAGO AND ASKED IF HE REMEMBERED MY FATHER AND MY AUNT MILDRED.  HE RESPONDED SAYING HE SURELY DID REMEMBER THEM AND THAT MY LETTER BROUGHT BACK BITTER SWEET MEMORIES OF TULSA.....PAUL'S FATHER WAS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY AS A TULSA POLICE OFFICER.  I JUMP WAY AHEAD NOW AS THE TITLE IS 216 S FRISCO.   MY AUNT HAD MAJOR SURGERY TO FUSE HER BACK AND WAS FITTED WITH BRACES SO SHE COULD WALK. HER BRACES WERE LOCKED SO KNEES COULD NOT BEND, SHE WALKED BY SWINGING ONE LEG ATA TIME FOREWARD AND USED CRUTCHES TO KEEP THE PROCESS UP.  SHE WENT TO SCHOOL AND LEARNED WATCH  REPAIRING AND BECAME ONE OF THE BEST WATCH PEOPLE IN TULSA,  SHE FOUND A JOB AT TICK OF TIME ON 4TH ST DOWNTOWN.  SHE HAD A REAL FOLLOWING, THE POOR AND THE RICH BROUGHT THEIR WATCHES TO HER.  SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL LADY....FACE LIKE AN ANGEL.  EVEN CLEO EPPS BROUGHT HER WATCH TO MILLIE....CLEO WAS A MAJOR BOOT LEG QUEEN HERE DURING PROHIBITION.  MUCH LATER, THEY FOUND HER BODY AT THE BOTTOM OF A WELL. MILDRED EARNED THE MONEY AND GRANDMA MANAGED THE HOUSE.  216 S FRISCO WAS A VERY MODEST DUPLEX....ALL THE ROOMS RAN FROM FRONT TO BACK...THE LIVING ROOM. THE DINING ROOM. THE KITCHEN, ONE BEDROOM, AND THEN ONE MORE LITTLE BED ROOM WITH BATH NEXT TO IT.  EVERY DAY FOR MANY DECADES, GRANDMA GOT MILDRED READY FOR WORK AND READY FOR BED.  BRACES UNLACED AND REMOVED....LACES ENTIRE LENGTH OF BOTH LEGS....FOR DECADES..EVERY DAY.  AFTER GRANDMA DIED, I GOT HER BIBLE AND I FOUND A VERSE SHE HAD UNDERLINED AND HAD WRITTEN "MY VERSE" BESIDE IT....."THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER"     MILDRED WENT TO WORK VIA CAB...I CAN STILL HEAR HER SAY  "MOM, HERE'S MY CAB".  THE TRIP FROM BACK DOOR TO ALLEY WAS A LABORIOUS JOURNEY OF JOCKYING HERSELF OVER ABOUT 70 FEET OF LAWN TO THE GATE ON THE ALLEY.  SAME THING COMING HOME.   GRANDMA WAS A GENIOUS AT MANAGING THE SMALL SALARY MILDRED GOT.  THEY BOUGHT ALL NEW FURNITURE IN 1947. THERE WERE ABOUT FIVE DUPLEXES NEXT TO EACH OTHER ON FRISCO.  THE STREET WAS TREE LINED AND THE BOUGHS MET EACH OTHER OVER THE MIDDLE...THE OLD FOLKS WHO LIVED THERE MADE THE MOST OF THERE SITUATION AND YOU COULD SEE OLD LADIES IN THEIR STRAW HATS WATERING THEIR IRIS BEFORE IT GOT TOO HOT.  AND HOT IT DID GET...NO A.C. BUT A SEARS WINDOW FAN IN BATHROOM WINDOW PULLED HOT AIR IN  WHICH THEY GOT USED TO.  I WILL SPEND MOST OF MY REMAINING WRITING TIME WRITING ABOUT 216 AND I NEED TO BREAK IT UP. HOWEVER, IN 1949, WE VISITED 216 FROM GLENDALE, AND THERE WAS A CUTE....GIRL VISITING MRS BROWN NEXT DOOR. HER BEDROOM WAS RIGHT ACROSS FROM  MINE.  PROBABLY SIX FEET BETWEEN WINDOWS WITH A MOSSY BRICK WALK BETWEEN.  ONE NIGHT I STRIPPED NAKED AND GOT INTO P.J'S IN MY LITTLE BEDROOM..LIGHT ON,  I TURNED THE LIGHT OUT  AND HEARD,,"GOOD NIGHT BOBBY"  THE GIRL HAD HER HEAD PROPPED BETWEEN HER HANDS...CURTAINS PARTED...AND I SAID.....GOOD NIGHT.....AND SPENT THE NIGHT WONDERING...MUCH MORE TO COME ON ALL OF THIS...THE B.