Ken never said "No" to me.  Whatever I wanted, however I wanted to do something, that's what happened.  He truly wanted me to be free to do whatever needed to be done however I wanted to do it.  Like I told you yesterday, he wanted a wife who could manage whatever came along--since he was gone so much.  He wasn't looking for a wimp.  And he didn't marry one.

So when he finally said "No" to me, it was a shock.  We had been married ten years and he had never questioned how I did the things that I did, or the decisions I made for the family.  He felt that whoever was doing the job got to decide how it was done.  But he was getting ready to deploy to Viet Nam.  He knew what war was.  He had flown over a hundred missions in Korea, and been hit 7 times in the first 25 missions--before they transitioned to jets.  He didn't have any illusions.

"I'm going to go to Olatha, Kansas when you deploy," I told him.  "They have a base there with a lot of empty housing.  Most of the wives I know are going there while their husbands are gone.  I'll have support.  Everyone will be going through the same thing I am.  The schools are good, and the kids will already have friends they know in the same boat they are in."  It wasn't a question, I was just telling Ken what I planned to do when he left.

"No," he said.  "That's not going to happen."  I did a double take.  I wasn't sure I heard him right.  "No, you aren't going to Olatha.  You and the kids are going back to Pryor where your folks are."

 "But," I said, "I want to..."

"No. You aren't going to Olatha.  I'm going to have enough to worry about while I'm gone.  I want my family safe.  In Pryor.  Where your family is.  If something should happen to me, I want to know that you and my children are settled. We are going to buy a house there--where your mom and dad live."

I was so shocked that I said, "Okay."  I think that shocked him too.