Whenever I got to talk to or see grandmother, there was always excitement in her voice. "Hello Dan!" When we were kids, she took us to the Zoo, she would be just as into it as we were, but even more so because Leah and I were having fun.

When I was in the hospital when I was 8, I would get a period of time where I could get out of my room and go to a play room for the kids in the hospital. During one of those days in the play room, I heard footsteps coming down the long hallway, and I just knew that it was Grandma Audrey. I looked out the door, and sure enough, I saw her with the biggest smile. That made being in the hospital easier.

Whenever I got to talk to or see grandmother and it was time to go, I could hear in her voice the love as she would say, "Goodbye Dan, I love you". I will miss seeing her in her doorway as we drove off with a smile on her face waving goodbye.

I love you Grandma. Dan 

Memories of my dear friend “Aud.”

I don’t have any photos of the two of us when we were young.  You had to be rich to own a camera in those days and we were not in that Bracket at all!

My first memories are of sitting on our doorstep in Blackthorn Road knitting with metal skewers (that were used for joints of meat).  Standing at the sink together in Nan Wheelers kitchen and doing the washing for her when she was poorly! (No washing machines then!).  Standing on a stool and helping ourselves to mint sauce in the larder which Nan used to make a lot of, and drinking it till our tummies rumbled – naughty girls! Going on the bus over to town with Uncle Jack (Aud’s dad) to visit Granny Trodd at Jessie Terrace.  Aud used to come into our house and have a meal as sometimes there was a lack of food in the Wheeler household, thanks to Uncle Jack’s drinking habits.  He was a nice man when sober but not when he was drunk.  My Dad often used to go in and sort him out, talk to him, I mean.  Nan was lovely, made hats and played the piano and sang to us. Eunice was born when we were 7 years old.  They were both christened together, I teased her the Vicar would pick her up in his arms – she was petrified.  I was naughty but she could do her share of teasing as well!

War came and we were separated.  Aud evacuated to Poole, me to Parkstone – we lost touch. My Dad worked in the Spitfire factory at Woolston and when that was bombed (he nearly lost his life), the factory moved to Salisbury and we came with it! I managed to get back in touch with Aud in my early teens! Then she went to America after meeting Joe.

We kept in touch, sadly both our mum’s died at the age of 49 years – they were good friends. I’ll always remember the highlight of my life was coming over to Oklahoma with Eunice in 1975. Ken was dead against it – but Mark who was 21 years old said when I almost backed down under pressure that he would tie my hands and feet together to get me on that plane! I’m glad he threatened me! It was the most wonderful time! Three gals in a little house!! I wasn’t a wife, a mum, a housekeeper! I was just me, a human being, enjoying life – it was great! You Del, and George and Aud’s friends made us so welcome.  It was a holiday of a lifetime! Aud’s Pot Roast, George’s home-made ice cream, Florence’s pumpkin pie, Earl – I could go on and on! A visit to Anadarko, Six Flag Over Texas… 3 weeks of Heaven! 

17 years ago Aud, Del, Dan and Leah came over to stay with Eunice.  We came down with the boys Joe and Pip. Leah had died the year before and Peter was away. Then you came up for dinner before flying back to the States.  Lovely memories! I wrote a poem about our friendship with a new ending sad to say!

Friends

I have a friend called Audrey
She lives across the sea.
We’ve known each other for 85 years
She means the world to me.

As children we played together
We went to the same school.
Then the War came
We were evacuated
Me to Parkstone, she to Poole.

Then Dad’s factory in Southampton was bombed
Which gave us all a scare,
So off again our family went
To live we knew not where.

Audrey met a G.I. and off 
to America she went.
I stayed here in England
But kept in touch with letters sent.

Through thick and thin we’ve written
In good times, and in bad.
So many Happy Memories
And some so very sad!

She has been back a few times
And I’ve been over there.
But now we are much older
Visits are somewhat rare.

But we still keep in touch by letter.
And will do so till the end.
Because after all
She is my BESTEST FRIEND.
Beryl

P.S. 10/09/2015 (10 Sept, 2015)
But now she’s gone,
I must carry on.
Alone with my memories!

Best Mom Ever

My mom always worked outside the home except for a short time between jobs and that was the best time.  She was home when I got out of school to greet me with love and goodies to eat.  But when she worked it was to make life better for us.

We got to travel to Mexico, England, Washington state and Colorado.  She was always grateful for all she had.  Her grandchildren were the loves of her life.  And her family she left in England always held a special part of her heart also.

One time I had to leave both Dan and Leah with mom when they were small and mom took them to eat out and Leah fell off a bench. She had a time having both of them at once.  But she loved entertaining them.

I can't imagine leaving my family, but in a war torn country you just might, like the people leaving the middle east because of wars in their country. Mom always loved a good story and a little gossip. She was a bit of an adventurer. She enjoyed taking day trips with Dan and Leah and they loved them too.  When Eunice called her, she took notes so she could tell us about their talks and didn't toss her notes, so I found them and Dan and Leah just loved her notes.

Dan and I would spend a few days with her in the summer when we were kids. She would take us to the zoo, Frontier City, the Omniplex , the Stovall Museum of Science and History on the University of Oklahoma campus, and on a tour around Downtown Oklahoma City.  At Frontier City, I would ride the ferris wheel, while Dan and Granny would drive the bumper cars. I’m not sure Granny understood the concept, though.  She seemed to just want to drive around the course, but everyone else kept bumping into her.  I believe that it was Granny who taught me how to braid hair when I had a Pretty Cut and Grow doll with yellow yarn hair. 

Granny is one of the reasons I love to read so much.  Because she worked at Rector’s bookstore, she supplied us with so many books.  I loved to visit her at the bookstore, I could always find a new book that I wanted.  She’s also one of the reasons that I wanted to learn how to play the piano.  For my 5th birthday, she gave me an orange toy piano.  To my lifelong regret, that poor piano didn’t survive very long.  But it was just a toy.  I begged my parents for 5 years for a real piano and lessons before they gave in. I also later learned to play the flute in the school band, and my brother played the cornet and tuba, so Granny would come to our concerts when she could.

Granny never made a lot working at any of her jobs, but she was able to save a little money for Dan and myself that she gave us to pay for some of our college expenses.  She was so very generous with us both, I could never thank her enough for all that she gave us whether it was her time, her love or money to help us out.

I can’t say that Granny was a wonderful cook, but she wasn’t bad.  I liked her “silver dollar” pancakes – they were smaller than mom made, about 3 inches or so in diameter.  I also liked it when she made cherry turnovers – we would often visit her on the Sundays when Daddy worked and she would have them hot and ready for us when we arrived early in the morning.  She also made tapioca pudding, something mom didn’t make.  We didn’t eat fast food often, but one of the places that we would go with her was Long John Silver’s for their fish and chips – a favorite of both hers as well as mine.

Because my grandmothers had worked together years before my parents met, Granny was always welcomed at Nash family events – most of our cousins considered her to be their Granny, too.  My cousin Bill once asked Granny about how she came to the US.  I can’t remember the whole answer she gave, although I always knew that she and Grampa had met in England, and that he had sent her money to join him here in the States.  I do recall that she said if she had known how bad it was, she would never have come over.  She also said if she’d had the money to pay her way home, she might have gone back.  They didn’t have indoor plumbing at the farm where Grampa and his family lived – they had an outhouse. 

She never liked the rain, sunshine made her happier.  She didn’t have central air in her little house, just a single window unit A/C in the living room, but she would turn it off at night and have the bedroom windows open and have a fan blowing to keep her cool.  She always preferred to have the windows open.

Going to England in 1998 to visit her sister Eunice Evans and her husband Brian and their children Julie Denny and husband John, and Steve Evans and his partner Joanne was the trip of a lifetime.  Granny was so excited she didn’t sleep much the night before we left, and didn’t sleep much on the flight there.  When we arrived, we were all tired and most of us took a short nap mid-afternoon, but Granny was still too excited even then.  So, she didn’t feel quite well enough on the following morning to join us on our trip to Bournemouth.  She rested and was well enough to enjoy the remainder of the trip which included a visit to Southampton to see the house where she lived as a child, and the area where she grew up.  We also visited Winchester, Lymington, the New Forest, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Bracknell where Julie lived, Windsor Castle and Eton, London and Salisbury to see Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral and to visit her childhood friend Beryl Robson and her husband Ken.  We stayed with Eunice and Brian and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

In recent years, mom and I took her on a few short adventures.  We went to the Oklahoma Railway Museum where they have a few exhibits on the railroads in Oklahoma and a short ride up and down a stretch of railway, too.  We took a tour of the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion – something she had wanted to do for a few years.  It was interesting learning the history of the house.  We also went to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring the victims of the Murrah bombing.

Granny always had household tips, and one that amused family was that to keep pantyhose from running you should put them in the freezer.  When sharing this tip with some of the Nash family, she made sure to mention that you need to leave them out to warm up before putting them on.

I will miss this beautiful lady until I join her someday in the future, but I know that she is now at peace.

Aud used to tell me in our phone calls how much she appreciated your help (Adela). We used to say "what would we do without our daughters".

Now to give you some scant memories of our childhood. As I was 8 years younger than Aud, she found me a very annoying sister, rightly so, as I used to go into her bedroom and put her make-up all over my face and leave it in a mess, then deny it. She used to call me a TOAD. We had an old gramophone, she used to play country and western records, she particularly liked ones like Slim Whitman and would sing along with them. 

I remember how worried my mother was when she announced she was going to America and said that she would only give her permission if she waited before making any quick decisions on getting married. What a brave and very risky thing to do, to go to a foreign country at the age of 17, you can tell how determined she was. After she left school she worked in Frasers department store, so I guess that is how she financed her trip on the Mauretania. Aud was very close to Gran Trodd and spent a lot of time there, my mum said that gran was very upset when she left for America. At that stage I wasn't too upset, I was more excited about the fact she said she would send me some bubble gum and a doll. She did send Mum parcels, because England was on rationing and having a rough time.

Your mom and you arrived in England in 1953, you were an absolutely beautiful child. All the relatives were at the docks to meet you. It was a mixture of happiness and heart break because Aud had come over to look after our Mum who was dying of cancer. I was sixteen and working so I wasn't much help. You went to stay with Aunt Sis because your Mom thought it would be bad for you to stay in our sad house, dad was an alcoholic and mum was suffering. There wasn't much help from social services in those days, your Mom cared for our mum so well and worked really hard. I think Florence and Earl paid us a visit as they were on holiday in England.

Your next trip over here was 1963, another sad time as our dad had died, Aud and I loved him in spite of everything. Aud was grieving herself but still comforted me. I don't remember much about this time, only that we visited all the relatives and that you were a great fan of the "Beatles."

The last trip you came over with Aud, Dan and Leah and stayed with me and Brian, we loved having you, so did Steve and Julie. 

I came over to Oklahoma with Beryl to see you all (in 1975), I had such a lovely time and was made very welcome. I hadn't been out of England before, I left Brian looking after Steve and Julie. Our friend Tom lent me the money because we were hard up at the time. We came to your house and saw little Dan and Leah, they were so cute. Also George took us to Six Flags and I went on the roller coaster, you also took us to Indian city, Aud was so proud to show us Oklahoma. She took us to the bookshop that she managed and another day to meet her friend who was a Filipino and Florence's daughter and some other friends who I can't remember their names. I have such happy memories of that visit with you all.

I loved Aud very much and am going to miss our chats very much. She was such a loving kind sister.


I loved my sister very much, we were very close, not in miles but in every other way. We had long happy talks by phone, for which I will always be grateful. Audrey and her lovely family, daughter Adela, and grandchildren Dan and Leah came to England to stay, I will always treasure that time. Rest in peace my beloved sister Aud.
Love Eunice

Leah, I have heard you talk about your "granny" for years and know how very much you loved her. I know you, your mom and Dan will miss her very much.  I am glad you all shared so many photos on this website. It is nice to put a face with all the stories I have heard about your granny. She was a lovely lady. Your family will continue to be in my prayers throughout the coming days. - Jennifer

OBITUARY

Audrey Winifred Wheeler Soto

December 9, 1929 – September 10, 2015

Bill Eisenhour Funeral Home

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