Tulsa is Beautiful! Except...

When I returned from lovely Tulsa, I spent a bit of time catching up on news on the net and had to laugh at Andrew Sullivan's post on "Butt Ugly Churches" because the Great Uncles live near Oral Roberts University.  Oh my God, I've never seen such a bizarre place.  Google "Oral Roberts University" and hit images, but you might want to do it at home because I'm not sure such bad taste is safe for work.  It's built in a 60s space age, Jetsons-meet-Jesus style of architecture that made me think some hack architect must have shown Oral the designs as a joke and been stunned that he chose them.  Then he laughed all the way to the bank. 

You enter the University through these gigantic praying hands.  They are Oral's hands, of course, not Gods and not the hands from the famous Durer painting. Then, you're assaulted by an explosion of gold glass, jutting angles and jarring shapes.  This place makes the Seattle Space Needle look positively Victorian.  Think Disney's Tomorrow Land without the tasteful restraint. 

It is so worth a visit.

UPDATE:  I understand that the tall building at top is no longer part of ORU.  Oral built it because God told him to and the city fathers tried to stop it.  It's a low rise part of town and that gold tower is jarring.  Oral would not be deterred because he was on a mission from God.  I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways because Oral went bankrupt building it and had to sell it.  It now belongs to some other outfit, and remains largely empty.  But, it's right across the street from the rest of the campus and is clearly of the same architectural style. 

"We Have Been in Love for 60 Years"

As I reported earlier, we went to the surprisingly beautiful city of Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend to visit the hubby's great uncle and his partner of 60 years.  The picture is of a wildlife sculpture in Riverside Park.  The Great Uncles are a wonderful couple, still very much in love.  They live in a terrific house that I would describe as Brady-esque, if Mike Brady had come out and had impeccable taste.  Uncle is 85 and In-law is 91, but they both look and act 20 years younger.  We loved talking to them about how they navigated the past 60 years together.  I particularly love the story of how they met.  I'll call them "Uncle" and "In-law" since I didn't ask for permission to write about them, but I can't resist telling this story.

Both Uncle and In-law served with distinction in World War II.  In fact, Uncle earned a bronze star for valor in combat in northern Italy.  In-law served in north Africa.  They are both truly part of The Greatest Generation. 

After the war, In-law stayed in the reserves, thinking he would never be called up.  He was wrong.  He was called up for Korea in 1950.  Instead of being sent overseas this time, he was sent to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, near the small town of Fort Smith.  One night, he was having a beer in a bar when he was approached by a man who offered to buy him another.  In-law was tall and Germanic with broad shoulders.  Very handsome.  I imagine he was approached at bars a lot.  He said no, he didn't want another beer and the man said "what about a mixed drink?"  He was about to go to a party with an open bar.  In-law said he liked mixed drinks and agreed to go.  They arrived at the party in a private home and the first thing In-law noticed was two male soldiers from his unit kissing.  He now knew what kind of party this was.  When the host saw them, he flew into a rage and stormed back into his bedroom.  In-law's "date" followed.  It turns out this guy was the hosts' lover and had picked up In-law just to make him jealous.  Never think that we invented gay life or gay drama.  This was 1950 in a small town in Arkansas!

In-law's date came out and said they needed to leave together, but by then In-law had spotted a very cute guy with a tight, muscular body.  That was Uncle and In-law said he wasn't going anywhere.  His date stormed off and In-law introduced himself to Uncle.  They became an item that night.  In-law said they consummated the relationship after 3 or 4 weeks.  Uncle said "you mean 3 or 4 hours."

There was one rather large hitch.  In-law was married.  With young children.  It was 1950 after all.  She found out and things got ugly fast so Uncle and In-law ran off together to California.  They lived in LaJolla, in a cottage on Cove Beach for a few years.  Eventually, things calmed down with In-law's wife and he hated being away from his sons, so they returned to Oklahoma.  Things got a bit complicated after that until the sons (one of whom is gay) finished high school, but Uncle and In-law managed to keep the love alive through the decades, or as In-law put it, "We have been in love for 60 years."     

Travelin' to Tulsa

We're off to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the weekend. It turns out that the hubby has a long lost gay great uncle there and they want to re-connect.  The great uncle is 85 and his partner is 90 and they are celebrating 60 years together this year.  60 years!  They've been together as a gay couple in love in Tulsa since 1950.  They were pioneers!  Can you imagine being gay in the 50s in Oklahoma?  Or anywhere?  Instead of hiding, they found each other and found love.  I can't wait to hear all about it. 

While we're in Oklahoma, maybe we'll sit and talk and watch a hawk making lazy circles through the sky.