Going Back to Houston, Houston, Houston

I think Ann would have applied some of the lyrics to Dean’s Martin’s song to herself.

Well it's lonesome in this ol' town everybody puts me down
I'm a face without a name just a walking in the rain
Going back to Houston, Houston, Houston.

When we drove into Houston Ann had forgotten that she once said, "I wouldn't live in the town if it were the last place in the world.

 

I’ve lived in Houston at three different times in my life.  I spent the summer of 1956 there.  We lived there most of 1963, but we spent our longest period of time with the Sharpstown Church of Christ, beginning late in November, 1973 and continuing until June, 1977.

When we first arrived the church housed us in an apartment next door to the church building.  With four active children, the apartment was not a satisfactory place to live.  I remember Gary coming to us a few days after we arrived and saying, “I’m tired of the motel.  I want to go home.”  We had to explain to Gary that the apartment was our home, not a motel.  For the next four years we would be Houstonians.

Elliott had a lot of difficulty adjusting to Houston at first.  He didn’t have friends. The school was different, but he involved himself in the bus ministry at church, and soon began to make friends in the youth group.   Some children resent the vagabond life that preacher’s children live.  They make good friends and they have to go off and leave them.  But on the other side of the coin, they make friends all over the country, and they have a much wider view of the world.   I think Elliott’s experience with our “gypsy like” moving around, made it easier for him to move around when he decided to pursue a career in the military.  Houston eventually became a good experience for them, but it was hard in the beginning.

The life of a PK  (Preacher’s Kid) is not easy.  They don’t choose to become PK’s. They are always on display.  If they make mistakes, people are sure to offer critical commentary about “that preacher’s kid.”   Then just as they start liking the place they live, Dad decides it’s time to move somewhere else.   I’ve never been a PK, but we raised four of them.   I don’t think my kids would give me an A for my parenting skills, but I would like to think I might get a B+.  They’ve had to forgive me for a few things.