Alyce Nell is….was….is, my mom. She is gone from the physical world but is still my mom. Her journey started May 8, 1942 in Paris, Texas. I don't know much about the path that brought her to Tulsa and to the time when I became, but I know she had some struggles along the way and I've heard enough stories to know she had a lot of good times as well. Her father, Clark M. Blevins, was a See Bee in the Navy and he and her mother Isabell (Glick) Blevins moved, at some point, to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She married and divorced young, but from that came my sister Diane Michelle. On September 15, 1962 she married my dad, her husband of 37 years, John C. Shupert Jr. In that union he adopted Diane and then came my sister Carol Lynne, and me, Melissa Lea. We learned in or around 1994 that after Diane was born and before she met my dad, mom had another daughter who was adopted by a family friend. Mom told us about Patricia because they had reconnected and as a result stayed in contact with each other and built a relationship over the years.I have so many great memories of my mom. She made the best brisket…ever. I would always call her and ask, how long do I cook it and what temperature? She'd remind me to seal the foil tight around the pan. The Barbara Chadwell cake, fried chicken, and peach cobbler. Thanksgiving and having to make a lot of toast because she forgot to leave the bread out to dry over night for the dressing. Oh boy, she could cook and went all out for family gatherings.We went fishing together at the lake and we'd eat fast food, usually Wendy's taco salad, when my dad was away on business. I remember taking a walk with her one cold calm night after it had snowed and the moon was shining bright; and a time she made hot chocolate from scratch for my sisters and I after my dad had taken us the fair one chilly fall night. She was the best back scratcher and ear cleaner (it's true, lay your head in her lap and she'd swab your ears with a q-tip and alcohol like none other).She loved to work puzzles and play games. Video games, board games, and card games. I remember so many nights staying up late playing the "two deck card game", crazy eights,and watching (because I was too young) the grown-ups play pinochle and canasta.She loved to golf, quilt, paint, swim, garden, cook, and spend time with her family. She was fun and funny, and always willing to listen when I needed her ear.My dad died in 2000, and a few years later she met Buddy who was her companion until his recent passing. I didn't know Buddy well, but he was very kind, always had great stories, and was fun to be around when my kids and I would come home to visit. I know the rest of the family loved him too. Her mom, dad, and brother Clark Allen have also passed away.There are plenty of us to keep her memory alive, my sisters and I,her sister Marilyn, her grandchildren Eric and his wife Cheryl, Jennifer and her husband Jeremy, Shawn, Sarah, Timothy and his wife Andrea, Cole and Samantha; her great grandchildren, Tiffany, Ashley, John, Erica, Malachai, Jacob, Blake, Aiden, Jack, Colt, Evie, Eli, and Titus; and her great great grandson Dawson, also her dear friend Terry, sister in-laws Joani and Kathy, their children, and her many cousins.My kids and I will miss mom's memorial service but am glad we were able to travel back and visit her in her last days. I love and appreciate my family who has cared for her and is arranging her beautiful service, and I appreciate the staff at St. Francis South Hospital, and at the Port Caeli House for helping her journey end in comfort and with compassion.
