Hal and MaryEllen Thomson and my parents (Jim and Betty Wheaton) were friends when I was growing up. They were so close we felt they were members of our family. Both Hal and MaryEllen were artists. Hal liked to draw and paint. MaryEllen made bronze sculpture and also painted.
Hal commemorated many ‘events’ in my family’s life through his drawings. My parents liked them so much that they devoted an entire wall in the dining area (an open area connected to the living room) to Hal’s artwork.
The drawing above commemorated my mom’s selling of her first house as a new real estate agent.
My dad made his living through radio advertising in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He billed himself as the ‘second worst radio voice in Tulsa,’ (the first being a florist in Tulsa whose gravel-ly-voiced ads were just 30 seconds of her telling what the week’s special was.) He was in a men’s business club called “The Cosmopolitan Club” which did good things for the community. This artwork was when my dad was named, “Cosmo of the Year.”
This was a jab about ‘fish stories.’ My dad and his friends were famous for not being the camping/fishing/outdoors types.
My dad smoked heavily much of his life, suffering from emphysema at the end. True to their friendship, Hal commemorated the ‘event’ of needing help breathing.
I’ll be sharing several more during the coming days. These drawings are really special to me, bringing back memories not only of events in my parents’ lives, but also the special friendship of the Wheatons and the Thomsons.
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