Romance at the Crown Drug Store

 Crown Drug Store-- 4th and Main--Downtown Tulsa--Photo Credit: Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society. “Preservation and archiving of this significant Tulsa treasure of photographs and artifacts was made possible through the Tulsa City-County Library and the Tulsa Historical Society, and the generosity of Tulsa World/Lorton Family, Chester Cadieux, the Rotary Club of Tulsa, and many other community-minded corporations, institutions, and individuals.”

Being one of the oldest siblings, young Helen felt a responsibility to help provide for her family.  When she was thirteen years old, she got a job as a soda jerk at the Crown Drug Store at 4th and Main in Downtown Tulsa.  This is where fourteen-year-old Floyd Lang enters our story.  Floyd came into the Crown as a customer, and Helen stole his heart.

Just tonight, I asked Papa to confirm these details, and he got a twinkle in his eye.  I can't imagine what loosing Mema has felt like for him.  They knew each other for sixty-nine years! They raised two daughters, pastored a church, spoiled grandchildren, looked after nieces and nephews, caught fish, played dominoes, cooked amazing food, ran a successful restaurant ...lived a very full life...together...for almost seven decades!

When I was little, I always thought that my Papa could fix anything.  He worked as a carpenter and had a woodshop in his basement.  He would let me go down to the shop with him and I would hammer nails.  I remember hunting around in all of his wood shavings to find discarded nails so that I wouldn't have to waste his good ones.  He would have given me new nails, but I think I really just liked to dig in the sawdust.  It smelled so good in that shop!  I loved to watch him take pieces of lumber and make them into something useful and beautiful.

Before Mema got sick, Papa wasn't doing well.  He had problems with his hip.  He had shortness of breath.  He spent a lot of time lying around the house.  It almost seemed like he had lost his purpose.  He had been a preacher for over fifty years, and when he could no longer speak without going into a coughing fit, I guess it makes sense that he got a little down.  The day we got the diagnosis, Papa cried.  And then he got strong again.

He couldn't fix this, but he took care of her throughout her illness: three surgeries, countless chemo treatments, radiation, and all of the side-effects that go with it!  He cooked for her and made sure she ate.  He cleaned up after her when making sure she ate backfired on him.  He drove himself to the hospital and walked all over St. John's just to visit her. 

Then, one afternoon, just a few months ago, my family and I were in Oklahoma City for the day when my mom called to say that Papa wasn't feeling well.  He was numb on his right side.  I told Mom to get him to the hospital--NOW--even if you have to throw him in the trunk to do it!   Sure enough, he'd had a stroke.  The doctors decided that he needed to have his carotid artery cleaned out, so, the caretaker became the patient.  Mema rallied and helped take care of Papa, and he ended up making a full recovery in record time.  It was a good thing, because Mema was getting ready to take a turn for the worse.

If Papa could fix anything, Mema made everything right.  And things just don't seem quite right anymore.  It amazes me how they complemented each other.  Where he was tough and rough, she was soft and gentle.  And for them to have their ups and downs at opposite times throughout the past couple years has really been a blessing. I guess they completed each other. Now she's gone, and life goes on--a fact that still amazes me!  The doctors have decided that Papa needs to have his other carotid artery cleaned out in a couple weeks.  We'll try to take care of him as good as Mema could.  Please remember him (and us) in your prayers.

Floyd and Helen Lang--Christmas 2010