“A Nocona Family Changed My Life Forever”
Submitted By: Brandon Holley
Perhaps some will remember the Buck family. I must admit that I have been extremely blessed by this family moving to Arkansas. Not only was I blessed by getting to marry one of the “Buck twins” (Crystal) but have also been blessed by getting to know the entire Buck family and ultimately they changed my life. I would like to share this story with you.
July, four years ago, I was a rambunctious 18 year old. I then worked for a little company out of Cabot, Arkansas called Arkansas Automatic Sprinklers, Inc. where I was a fire sprinkler inspector. I still lived with my parents at that time. I loved to party, hung out with the wrong crowd and did plenty of things that I am not proud of that I can’t take back. I’ll leave it at that.
My grandmother, Ferne Pettingill, who at the time was a real estate broker, told me one day to go to the Fred’s store in Greenbrier to meet a girl. She then told me the story of how she had a showing of my great-grandparents old house to this nice family from Texas and how I needed to go meet this girl. Well, from previous experience, I was not really looking forward to seeing what my grandmother had in store for me. After a little thinking, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t have anything to lose by meeting this girl. So, I decided the next day to go to Fred’s and meet this Crystal Buck that my grandmother told me about.
The end of the work day finally came for me about 4:30; I had finished all of my inspections for the day and went to the Fred’s store. I remember as I walked through the front door of the store, I noticed this beautiful girl checking at the front counter. I thought to myself “That can’t be her.” And proceeded to make my way through the store trying to find this brown haired girl named Crystal Buck. I walked through the store up and down the isles trying to find the girl that matched my grandmother’s description. Finally, I decided to give up; I grabbed a couple of items, batteries, and a pen and headed towards the front to check out. When I got up to the front, I decided to give it one more try and asked the beautiful girl checking if a Crystal Buck was working. I’ll never forget the wonderful smile that came across her face as she said “I’m Crystal Buck.”
Making a long romance story short, I got Crystal’s phone number, my cousin Brad got Amber’s phone number, and we started dating. It was during this time when I got to meet the entire Buck family, Don Sr. and Glenda took me in like I was one of their own children and I started to get quite the education. I still recall very well sitting on the couch during some evenings talking with Don Sr. waiting for Crystal to get home from working. It was during these talks that I learned what a “tank” was, that there are more stars in a Texas sky at night than an Arkansas night, and just stories from Nocona in general. Glenda, Crystal, and even sometimes Amber showed me what a real Tex-Mex meal is like. And by all this, I got to witness first hand what a true family is.
These type evenings became an every night thing for me, usually we would all talk till about 10:00 in the evening, then everyone would go to bed and Crystal and I would stay up and talk till one or two in the morning. Traveling all over Arkansas doing inspections, most nights, I would only get about 2 hours sleep by the time I got home, before I had to get up and leave for work, which consequently left me falling asleep on Don and Glenda’s couch in the living room. But they never minded, usually I would get woke up by Crystal’s smiling face and that meant that it was dinner time.
I began going to church with the Buck’s, and I began to see what the backbone was behind this family. In October of 2003, I was baptized and became a member of the Church of Christ. I would have to say that this time was when I got to really know Josh, April and their two boys Stone and Stetson, Don Jr. and Heather and at that time only daughter Emma. I still recall when we would all go to April and Josh’s house for a Sunday evening meal and watch football on T.V. while the women talked and cooked. Through all these times listed above, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a part of this family and wanted them to be a part of my life.
In November 2003, I asked Crystal to marry me, Don Sr. and Glenda had bought a house in Vilonia and the proposal was traditional, but non traditional at the same time. Crystal and I went ring shopping at the new Kohl’s store that had just been built in Conway. My original plan was to pop the question during Thanksgiving, but it didn’t end up working out that way. We bought a ring, and that night I pulled Don Sr. outside and asked him for his blessing to marry Crystal which is the traditional part. As we went back inside and everyone continued with their nightly business, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. I called everyone to the living room, when Don Sr., Glenda, and Amber all got to the living room. I opened the ring box and asked Crystal to marry me. I was completely lost in the moment until Amber said; “You goofus, you’re supposed to get on one knee.” We all shared a little laugh and I dropped down to one knee and asked again which Crystal said “yes”.
As I have became apart of this family, and they have became apart of my life, I have learned and continue to learn their values and the real important things in life everyday. Since that time, Don Sr. and Glenda have bought a house in Quitman, AR. Josh and April’s two wonderful boys Stone and Stetson are growing like weeds. I’ve got to watch both of them start school. My aunt is teaching Stone in second grade. Don Jr. and Heather now have two of the cutest little daughters you’ll ever see, Emma and Kacee. Amber met a guy by the name of Justin Mauldin, they were married in July, 2006 and reside in Abernathy, TX. They are expecting a new baby around April 8, 2008. Crystal and I got married on October 1, 2004, we now live in Greenbrier, AR. (My home town) and we are expecting a baby somewhere around April 8, 2008. (To answer your question, this was not planned) Ina Lily (Nana) Buck bought my great grandparents old house where she still lives, I get to hear stories of “Old Nocona” from her almost every time we visit. I am proud to be a part of this family and thought I would share this story with you since they came from Nocona. They have definitely changed my life forever and I am so blessed that they moved to Arkansas although Nocona has lost a wonderful family, Crystal and I have plans to return to Nocona to visit someday in the near future until then, God Bless.
Brandon Holley – Greenbrier, AR