All eight of our country raised sons did the usual "guy thing" of targeting cats, dogs, bugs and anything else that moved or did not move while doing their calls of nature. They even devised contests to see who could hit the furthest target. Owen won hands down! Owen was very small for his age and was nicknamed by some of the siblings as “Squirt”


When Owen was two years old and Wayne Jr. was nineteen, we attended an air show at a small local landing airstrip near Cherokee, Oklahoma. Wayne Jr. was always so full of pride and was somewhat bothered by the teasing he got from his friends about his large family. Several of those old classmates and friends were standing there with us that day. We stood at the front of a row of parked cars for a better view of the planes taking off and landing. Since our community was so small, everyone knew everyone.


All of a sudden, we saw a stream of water come shooting past us from the back of the parked cars. The stream ended a few feet in front of us. Everyone turned to see what the source behind the action was. There, stood little Owen doing only what he did best. Owen’s nickname of “Squirt” surely fit him well.


Wayne Jr. was absolutely mortified and gave Owen a good verbal thrashing while his friends were doubled over in laughter. My laughter was far less than those of Wayne Jr’s laughing buddies. None-the-less, Owen's accomplished feat was never forgotten by the friends. Even now, the story is brought up often. The only difference is Wayne Jr. laughs with us now.