Rekindled Memories Inspire Pawnee County Woman To Find Childhood Home

People say you can't go home again. They say it's never the same, or it's changed, or you've changed and just can't recapture what you had. However, one of Oklahoma's Own gave it a shot and discovered some wonderful memories.

Betty Hoobler lived in rural Pawnee County during the Dust Bowl and the depression. Recently those memories got her thinking about her old house and set out it find it.

Not only did she find the house she grew up in, but she, and her husband Bob, found her Aunt Dora's house, near Skedee, where she lived in elementary school.

"It was wonderful going back there with Bob because we knew each other then," she said.

They went to school together as kids, and they played at the house and along the creek nearby; but the story takes a bit of a turn, as the two were originally married to others.

"He was my best friend in High school and I think the reason he married Betty was he got home before I did," Bob said.

Bob and Betty had happy marriages and raised families; but after they each lost their respective spouses, they rekindled their childhood friendship, and married 13 years ago.

It was the childhood memories they share that encouraged Betty to search for the home she grew up in.

"When you get older, you appreciate so much more the things that were done for you, that you took for granted," Betty said.