Loyal Oklahoma

My Grandad, Keith Wanzer, grew up in a small town in Oklahoma.  Every couple of years his high school has an all school class reunion.  I went to visit my Grandad & Grandma Joyce before the reunion & also ended up staying to hear some of the history of his school and friends at the reunion as well.

We drove around what is now a very small town of Loyal Oklahoma where he was born and lived until he was 18 years old.  The population when he lived there was roughly 285. According to the 2000 census, there were 81 people, 35 households, and 22 families residing in the town.

My Grandad recently turned 80 but his memory is as sharp as a tack.  We drove the old roads of his home town where very little was familiar but hearing the stories from his memories was just like being there.

Roads that used to be there,

stories of his father & brothers,

remembering neighbors from long ago,

the farm where he picked his first cotton crop,

Owen Majors,

his best friend, Charles Wilsek, that lived down the street,

the old homestead that is no longer there.

I am truly blessed to have known all my grandparents and being able to hear more about my families history was a blessing for sure.  I loved hearing stories of what sounds like such a more simple time. A time where you knew your neighbor, road your horse to school, a time that I was able to hear as my Grandad remembered.