PRATT FAMILY BLOG

 A LOVE STORY - We're Still Having Fun 

I remember so well celebrating our 25^th Anniversary. It was truly a milestone in our marriage. Incredible…YES!  Fast forward a few years, and on July 31, 2018, we celebrated our daughter Cindy and her husband Jason’s 25^th Anniversary. WOW!! How could that actually be happening? We just celebrated our 25^th just a few years ago, but in reality it had been 17 years. 

Reflecting over our 42 years of marriage, we have seen God’s faithfulness. Gary has been privileged to officiate at all three of our children’s weddings, and God has allowed us to see the beauty of each one of their marriages bloom and blossom over the years.  

Our daughter Shanda and her husband Adolfo have been married 20 years. Our son Matthew and his wife Lisa have been married 12 years. The Pratt family has enjoyed 99 combined years of marriage that has produced our 3 adult children plus their spouses and our 6 GRANDS!   Have all our marriages been perfect?  FAR FROM IT.  We have all had our ups and downs, but we continue to exercise LOVE AND RESPECT for one another. 

Our story is not necessarily how I would encourage anyone to find their mate. In fact, I’ve always told our children, “THIS IS NOT HOW YOU GO ABOUT MEETING SOMEONE!”  With that being said, Gary and I met on an interstate highway because of CB radio.  I call it “old school internet.” For those of you too young to know what a CB radio is, I will explain.  The CB (Citizens Band) radio was very popular back in the mid to late 1970’s. The use of CB radios in 1970’s films such as Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Breaker, Breaker (1977), and Convoy (1978) established CB radio as a nationwide craze in the United States.  When the CB craze was at its peak, many people invented their own nicknames known as “handles”. Gary’s “handle” was “Thunderbird”, and mine was “the Brown-Eyed Blonde”.  The CB radio usage especially gained popularity with travelers.  With the U.S. government-imposed, nationwide 55 mph speed limit, and fuel shortages and rationing, the CB radio was used, especially by truckers to locate service stations with better supplies, to notify other drivers of speed traps, and to organize convoys.  Also, CB’s allowed people to get to know one another in a quasi-anonymous manner…similar to internet chat rooms.  So, here’s our story:

Gary was on his way home from spending the weekend with his mom and dad in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. He had taken his three year old daughter to live with his parents temporarily as he finished out his teaching contract in Texas. He had endured a divorce and found himself a single dad trying to navigate caring for his 3 year old daughter, teaching full time, and coaching after school.    He realized he would need help, so he took his daughter to live with his parents with the understanding that he would drive from Texas to Oklahoma every weekend. 

On this particular day in January, he had just left his parents’ home, heartbroken and in tears, trying to come to terms with returning home without his daughter. As he approached the interstate, he glanced over and saw a “long legged blonde” (those are his words, not MINE) get out of a 1974 Blue Maverick (hands down, the ugliest car I ever owned). His attention was “apparently” distracted for a moment. Several miles down the road, though he felt like his heart would break from the sorrow of leaving his daughter behind, he picked up his CB Radio when he heard a young man asking for directions to Dallas. Since he was headed that direction, he thought that it would break the silence and help keep him company on his way home. So, as he engaged in conversation with the young man on the CB, he found out that there was another car following the young man. The two of them decided they would stop at a TRUCK STOP in McAlister, Oklahoma, for gas. As they had hoped for, the car following the young man, stopped also. (That car was ME). I did not have a CB Radio; however, I had decided to travel behind this car that did have a CB radio! (I hope you are following me…it’s not as “sordid” as it seems…I was just simply trying to stay under the radar of the highway patrol, also.) At any rate, Gary realized I was that “long legged blonde” he had seen before. So, although I thought I was being totally inconspicuous, Gary approached my car. I rolled the window down just enough to hear him. He said, “The guy you are following and I noticed you have been following us for some time now, and we want to know if you would like to join us for a Dr. Pepper (yes he has ALWAYS liked Dr. Pepper) or coffee and pie”, and I said, “YES”… and that began our wonderful journey.  

Both Gary and I were NOT running away from God, but neither of us were running to Him either.  Gary had been devastated by a divorce and disappointed with a church that did not embrace him through his difficulty, and Debbie…well, I was just single and having fun. I had no intentions of getting serious with anyone, let alone getting involved with someone that had been married and had a child. However, from the day I rolled down my window to accept an invitation to have coffee and pie, I knew there was something different about GARY PRATT, and I wanted to get to know him. 

To say that our marriage has been perfect would be far from the truth. To say that our marriage has been EVENTFUL would be more accurate. You see, along the way, we have discovered so many things about life because we have experienced the raw, the good, the bad, the ugly, and have still found pure joy, fulfillment, and contentment when God is given the opportunity to take what the enemy meant for bad and let Him use it for His glory. That is truly our story in a nutshell. For everything we have been through, we have determined that God, in his love and mercy for us, would be glorified as we continue to live out this EVENTFUL life of love and marriage.

Recently, I had dinner with some girlfriends.  We played a game that involved answering some fun questions.  My question was:  Who makes you laugh the most and why?  My answer was immediately, GARY PRATT!    I think I can honestly say that he has made me laugh almost every day of our life together.  Even now, when I am struggling with my eye sight, not being able to drive because of a condition I have in my corneas, he finds a way to make me laugh.    I said, “Gary, I’m so sorry you have to drive me everywhere,” and he said, “Honey, don’t worry about it; I have job security. I’ll be your seeing eye husband!” 

I read recently in a devotion by Oswald Chambers the following:  “If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me.  God is not working toward a particular finish – His purpose is the process itself.” I think this applies to marriage as well.    Even in the middle of turmoil and crisis of life, if both partners will stay calm, faithful, and unconfused about their commitment to one another, God’s purpose will be accomplished. 

 Today, Gary and I don’t let a sunset pass us by. We take long road trips, and laugh at ourselves and with each other, spend time on the deck, take long walks together, and we never take the love we have fostered for the past 42 years for granted. 

We celebrate the marriages of our children and the blessings they have given us in our precious GRANDS.  We are trusting for many more EVENTFUL years and if you know Gary, you know that we are going to continue to have FUN!!