Swimming Pool in Tulsa, Backyard Campouts, and Nighttime Dips

In the summer of 1979 Dad and Mom moved the family from Cleveland, Ohio to what was for us a very foreign Tulsa, Oklahoma. For most of us kids Cleveland (and to a lesser extent Placentia) was where most of our formative years were spent, so the move to Tulsa represented a significant change. The fact that our new home in Tulsa had a swimming pool made the adjustment a more palatable for sure though and we quickly put it to great use. As I (Jonathan) recall, Dad handled nearly all of the pool maintenance himself with help from us kids doing some of the more minor care such as vacuuming the pool and keeping leaves and other debris out of the pool. For a teenage boy, having a swimming pool meant loads of fun with family and friends. Having a close friend and member of the church in Steve Richins a few houses away who loved swimming as much or more than I, sure didn’t hurt. It led to proposals to Mom and Dad such as letting Steve Richins come over for a sleep out in the back yard, which on at least one occasion they obliged. Of course, the reason behind the request wasn’t so much that we loved camping outside, though we didn’t mind it, but rather that it was much easier to sneak in a midnight swim, and a post midnight run to the 7-Eleven store a mile away for some munchies, when we didn’t have to worry about being caught sneaking out of the house at those hours. Needless to say, having a pool was lots of fun, for the daytime and night time swims.