07/11/2026
Since it’s Mark ThomasonMark’s birthday I’m going to share a little story about when we were getting to know each other. I was a ticket agent for SWA and Mark worked for H&P. He was a frequent flyer on SWA because they flew him to Harlingen, Texas weekly so he could check on the drilling operations going on in the Rio Grande Valley. We had been chatting more and more and finally he asked if I would be interested in showing him some good places to eat. He shared with me how he sold produce at Farmers Markets. I said, I thought you were an engineer. He said I am but I still love to farm and I especially like to grow watermelons. I thought it just made him more endearing… I was goner. The next week when he flew in he walked up to the counter with the biggest watermelon you ever saw.All of the girls I worked with were just as surprised as I was. He said I thought I’d bring you one of my melons! He had carried that melon thru OKlahoma Will Rogers International to Harlingen International Airport. My friend Cindy teased me forever saying, “I carried a watermelon” referring to dirty dancing and I was just as smitten as that girl was with Patrick Swayze. Of course, we took the melon back to the break room and everyone had some and it was the BEST watermelon, Naturally!
I’m writing a memoir about my life with Marko. The picture below is my front yard, at dusk today and the house I live in is where Mark’s parents lived when he was born. Because of the massive cotton wood trees, other mature trees and dense cover around the grounds it has an almost ‘fairy oasis atmosphere. I feel so blessed and thankful to be here and to have had Mark in my life for over twenty years. The second picture is with his dad and that watermelon was a variety named Mickey Lee which has orange meat. They don’t usually get that big. ♥️😍 Mark would have been 71 today.
