Before Foster Care
These are places I lived at with my parents.
Guthrie, OK
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Sand Springs, OK
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During Foster Care
These are places I lived at while in foster care.
Map of Places I have Lived In Foster Care!
This is for my foster care homes only... I included my friends' houses, places I visited, places that held memories, etc. Not finished yet.
Click for Aardvark Map About Nelson and Ivy Pendergrass
We all serve something or someone. If we chose to always be serving ourselves then that choice is going to result in an empty life. To really know true satisfaction and be fulfilled in life, we must realize those things come through serving others. There are millions of people who get up out of bed and face every day totally unmotivated and unexcited about life. A commitment to something larger than ourselves gives us an energy level and enthusiasm for life and for work that makes each day interesting and worthwhile.
Gordon McDonald tells the story about Nelson Pendergrass, an Oklahoma rancher, who understood this kind of commitment. “The commitment was made the day that he, along with his wife and two sons, invited David, a sixyear-old boy, to come and live in his home. Repeatedly David had been in trouble with the law, and the expectation was that the brand of love practiced in the Pendergrass home would melt what seemed to have become a very hard juvenile heart.
But it didn’t seem to work. David did not respond to the relational climate of the Pendergrass home or any attempt to cross over into his life. In fact, he appeared, if anything, to grow more resistant to relationships than ever. Things became so bad that Nelson Pendergrass began to seriously consider the possibility that David would have to be returned to juvenile court. It was a terrible decision, and each day the possibility that it would have to be made came closer.
Then Nelson had a serious ranching accident that sent him to the intensive care unit of the local hospital. While there recovering from his injuries, a blood clot suddenly entered his heart. In a matter of minutes Pendergrass was fighting for his life. Later he would admit that the pain in those moments was so great that he had to fight the temptation to give up and welcome death as a relief. What kept him going?
It was a nurse that made the difference. He said, ‘I gasped for air. But it hurt too much to breathe. Better just to drift away, I told myself. Away from the fear, from the pain. But there was the nurse, her face not six inches from mine.’ ‘Breathe. You’ve got to breathe,’ she said. ‘Leave me alone, I wanted to scream. Let me die. But no, she was still there.’ ‘Breathe,’ she said, ‘Breathe...breathe...breathe.’ ‘I was willing to give up but she was not. Again and again, I fought to take a breath as she called to me.’ Nelson Pendergrass made it through the crisis that day, but thanks, he says, belongs to that nurse who insisted that he keep on breathing when he wanted to quit.
Not many days afterward the powerful lesson of those terrible moments when he had wanted to die came home to the rancher’s heart. Nelson began to connect the experience in the intensive care unit with what was going on back at the ranch with David, the unresponsive teenager. Pendergrass had come close to sending the boy back to juvenile court. David showed no evidence of caring what happened to himself; so why should anyone else care? But, when it came to David’s situation, wasn’t he, Nelson asked himself, in the same position as the nurse in the ICU who had prodded him back to life? Wasn’t it his turn to confront this boy and shout the equivalent of ‘BREATHE!’ That blunt question caused the foster-father to postpone his decision and give David another chance.
Then one night when the relationship between David and Nelson seemed to reach a peak of stress, Nelson found a way to apply the lesson he’d so painfully learned. David had been arrested for stealing a car, and Pendergrass had to go to the police station to face him. When they met in the holding cell, David’s first reaction was to tell Nelson to leave him alone, that he didn’t care any longer. But Nelson, remembering his own experience with the nurse, told David that he found that unacceptable.
‘David,’ he said to the boy, ‘as long as you’re under my supervision, you’re not giving up on life. And I’m not giving up on you either. WE’RE not quitting. You’re coming home. And you and I are going to get through all of this.’ The crisis passed, and as the months went by Nelson Pendergrass and his foster son, David forged a new relationship. Today David is a husband and a father, all because one man made a commitment to teach another how to breathe.” Nelson Pendergrass gave his life away to another and gained through giving.
This was found HERE:
http://www.tvtalkshows.com/board/old/topic/90009-1.html
INTERVIEW OF NELSON PENDERGRASS (EXCERPT)
By Sandie Perkins
May 14, 2002
Introduction: "My experience interviewing Mr. Pendergrass was a very pleasant one. Mr. Pendergrass shared information about his family and life while growing up. I admire him for his decisions made throughout his life. Not only has he served his country, but also he is a dedicated husband of a 51-year marriage. Mr. Pendergrass has lived well and had a great family to support him along the way. I believe that by interviewing him, I have learned many things. Anyone given the chance should take advantage of interviewing someone they know. The Historical Society has spent very much time gathering information for their records, and existing families of those in this county. To be able to add to those records is a great honor and privilege, and I am very pleased to be a part of that. I have realized the importance of keeping the history of your land and society. I am proud to say that I was able to interview Mr. Nelson Pendergrass on May 14, 2002." Sandie Perkins
(Skip ahead)
SANDIE PERKINS: Did you decide to join the service, or were you prompted?
NELSON PENDERGRASS: Well, after Ivy and I got married I was drafted. A year after I graduated from high school the Korean War broke out. My oldest brother was in the 2nd World War and was gone overseas about 34 months, the European sector of the war. He was over there when the war ended. And my brother just older than me went in the Navy near the end of WWII.
A year after I graduated, in 1950 the Korean War broke out. Well, then Ivy and I got married about a year later. And they, what they called the draft and a lot of guys from Haskell County were drafted. I was one of 'em. I spent 2 years in the Army, 16 months of that in Korea. I was with the 40th Division first and later went to the 2nd Division. In both places I was a surveyor. I reached the rank of Sergeant; I was in charge of the survey section.
What a surveyor does in the Army, or did at that time, you climb those mountains, turn those angles with a transit, and tell the Artillery pieces where they are. It's pretty important for the Artillery to know where they are because when they're shooting, we want them to hit the enemy and not us. So if they don't know where they are they would be shooting at random, and could hit our troops because the Artillery is (incomplete).
(Skip)
(This concludes the interview excerpt of Nelson Pendergrass, by Sandie Perkins.)
This was found HERE:
http://haskellok.tripod.com/id100.html
Places where he is mentioned:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oksequo2/obits/may03.html
http://www.oasisnetwork.org/roadshow_guests_list.asp
Tulsa, OK
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Collinsville, OK
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Tulsa, OK
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Sperry, OK
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Either Hennesee or Henrietta, OK
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Pawhuska, OK
Who With:
Larry and Gwen McBride (foster parents) in their home
Who With:
Nellynn Pollock (foster mother) in her home
Broken Arrow
Who With:
Muskogee, OK
Who With:
? and Maggie Sellers
Glenpool, OK
Who With:
Lisa Evans (foster mother) in her home
Who With:
(foster mother) in her home
Stroud, OK
Who With:
Burt and Joanne Page (foster parents) In their home
Davenport
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Agra, OK
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Tahlequah, OK
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Miami, OK
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Norman, OK
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McAlester, OK
Who With:
In an Independant-living home, with two roommates (one adult, one my age)
Kiowa, OK
Who With:
Dennis and Wyma McMath (foster parents) in their home
After Foster Care
These are places I lived after moving out on my own.
Oklahoma City, OK
Who With:
In my Own apartment
Midwest City, OK
Who With:
Eileen and Robert Castle (Best Friend's Parents) in their home
How Long:
Oklahoma City, OK
Who With:
Steven Irvin (ex-boyfriend and fiance) In his mother's home
How Long:
Oklahoma City, OK
Who With:
Nick Kuether (Friend) In his parent's home
How Long:
Who With:
Nancy Anderson (ex-mother-in-law) In her home
How Long:
Who With:
Alone
How Long:
December 2001-April 2002
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) Rented together
How Long:
From April 2002-December 2002
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) Bought a house together (deal fell through)
How Long:
December 2002-February 2003
Cushing, OK
Who With:
Jessica and Shawn Schrick (sister and brother-in-law) in their home
How Long:
From February 2003-March 2003
Collinsville, OK
Who With:
Diana Ray (ex-foster mother) In her home
How Long:
From March 2003-April 2003
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) In his mother's home
How Long:
From April 2003-May 2003
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) Rented together with his mother
How Long:
From May 2003-August 2003
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) Rented Together
How Long:
From August 2003-November 2003
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) At a homeless shelter
How Long:
November 2003-January/February 2004
Who With:
John Story (ex-husband) Rented together
How Long:
January/February 2004-July 2004
Who With:
Alone
How Long:
July 2004-July 2005
Warr Acres, OK
Who With:
Lawrence Storey (friend, ex-boyfriend) His apartment, temporarily
How Long:
From July 2005-August 2005
Oklahoma City, OK
Who With:
Alone
How Long:
August 2005-September 2005
Who With:
Jerry Pece (ex-boyfriend/fiance) Rented Together
How Long:
From September 2005-August 2006
Who With:
Judith Burriss (biological mother) In her apartment, temporarily
How Long:
August 2006-September 2006
Who With:
Nathan McCrary (fiance) In mother's home
How Long:
September 2006-January 2008
Who With:
Nathan McCrary (husband) In mother's home
How Long:
Since January 2008
Who With:
Nathan McCrary (husband) In Our First Home!
How Long:
Since September 2008