Maurice was almost seven years older than me, but I do not remember him ever bringing a girlfriend to our house before he was dating Charlotte. I remember how Mom and Dad reacted to her at first and how she impacted Dad. Dad was a serious man that did not joke around or laugh much unless we had company of extended family, and they were playing 42 or laughing about old times. Charlotte was an outgoing person that would say whatever popped into her head, just like she had known you all her life. Mom never smoked and Dad had smoked most all his life but had not been around many women who smoked. Charlotte was different in many ways.
Charlotte was the one person that could say something that might cause some of us to hold our breath only to see Dad laugh at her. I remember the day Charlotte and Maurice got married and my first thought was that I finally got a bedroom all to myself. My second thought was that I had a sister-in-law that was a hoot. We would all grow to love her very quickly. I remember one time that I had gotten angry with my Dad and I walked to their apartment a few miles away. They were surprised to see me there and wanted to know why I had walked there. Charlotte listened to my gripes and had me believing that my parents would be upset with me gone.
As I got older, Charlotte would become a close friend of mine and then of Eva’s after we got married. I remember when Maurice joined the Houston Police Department, we were all very proud of him. Charlotte was supportive of him and then happy when he was selected for the Helicopter Division when Houston got their first helicopters. He had been working night shifts on the streets in some of the most dangerous parts of town. During the late 1960s, the race riots had reached Houston and crime was on the rise. Houston politics brought changes to city hall and to HPD. Maurice made the decision to leave law enforcement and his family moved to El Paso.
Charlotte was happy that Maurice was no longer working as a police officer; however, the move was difficult for the family. Their daughters, Kim, and Pam had left their neighborhood friends and their school classmates behind and had to adjust to a totally different community. Being 750 miles from Houston, weekend visits were not possible, and Charlotte’s family were in Oklahoma. I remember a trip Eva and I had planned to go to El Paso to spend a week there with them. Eva and Charlotte had been planning for the trip for several weeks when Tammy got sick with chickenpox and a few days later Jennifer started showing the first symptoms. Our trip was canceled, and we never got to visit them while they lived in El Paso.
A few years later they moved back to Houston, but with our kids getting older and involved with school activities, we only got together at holidays like Christmas. Charlotte worked at Foley’s and had repeat customers that would stop by to say Hi if they were at the mall. After Kim and Pam were both married, Charlotte and Maurice decided to do something different, and they became a husband/wife team managing La Quinta Motels in various locations. It was challenging work, but Charlotte was exceptionally good at meeting new people, and their skills blended well for the job.
Eva and I would plan trips, where we could go through the city, were they working so we could stop for a night to visit with them. We would try to pick times when they might be less crowded and have more free time. I remember when they were working in Longview, we went there for the weekend during the Christmas season. They took us to Marshall to see the city all decorated with trees and lights which was a sight to see. They always knew where the great places were to eat and the people working there would know Charlotte.
When Maurice and Charlotte retired and moved to Kerrville, Eva and I would try to go there as often as possible to spend a long weekend with them. Sometimes we would take trips around the back roads to see parts of the state in that area and other times just hang out around the house and visit. Charlotte always wanted to be a good host and would cook a big meal if we did not talk her into eating at one of the great places in town. I remember spending a couple of hours in Gibson’s just looking at all the merchandise in that old store. It was the same situation when they lived in LaGrange. I remember visiting the Tractor Supply store and buying things there. I still have a child’s bench that I bought for my grandchildren when they were little.
Now that Charlotte, Maurice, and Eva are all in Heaven, I have some great memories of the special times we shared together over the years.
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