I remember when my mom and I drove to Corn to visit CBA for the first time. Having always had a love of antiques and Victoriana, I absolutely fell in love with the girl’s dorm. That was it--that was the clincher. CBA it would be! Some of the other reasons were that I didn’t have to be bused to school 21 miles and I wouldn’t have to put up with all the school fights (with knives) as well as other dangers in the school I was assigned to. No, in Corn, all I had to worry about was cooking breakfast in the morning, cheerleading practice and meeting Marlene on Thursday mornings for our “girl talks”. I remember hitchhiking to Weatherford with about 6 other girls one time. (I don’t think I would even think about hitchhiking in this day and age—even in Corn!) Gator and I made rose leaf cigars but we NEVER inhaled! And I loved the day after a big choir trip when everyone in Mr. Johnson’s class could take a nap. (Mr. Johnson would give us homework time because he knew how tired we were!) But my favorite memory of all is the day that Norman Penner decided that he would drink my vial of cinnamon oil for a quarter! Orel offered him 50 cents so he swallowed it down with a smile on his silly face. The smile turned to shock, his face turned red (even more than normal) starting from the bottom up and he ran out to the water fountain, not to be seen again for a couple of days! I think he probably should have gone to the hospital because I’m sure the stuff ate a hole in his stomach! Now a days, I have my schedule planned three to six months in advance, I spend a lot of time in airports and I try to stay in shape on my elliptical trainer, doing Tae Bo and Pilates. It use to be so easy to stay in shape because we had to run back and forth to school 2-3 times a day, walk downtown for a hamburger or hitch-hike into Weatherford! Currently, I am a consultant and my job entails doing coding reviews (those codes showing the diagnosis and procedures that the doctors and hospitals send to the insurance company for reimbursement) for 37 ambulatory surgery centers, providing education to the coding staff, preparing and presenting two educational seminars and writing informational articles for education. I have been very blessed, and I still don’t know how I progressed to this level. God kept moving me around, and since I didn’t have my mind on any goal, I just followed. It was probably the only time I obediently followed the Lord’s leading! I have been with HCA Healthcare for 6 years and those years have gone by really FAST! Dick and I share 3 children and 3 grandchildren between us. My son Scot Collins and his wife Patricia are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota battling the winter, going to school and working. Scot has a handsome son (our grandson), Kyle, who is 10. Dick’s oldest son, Rick Cowan, is married to Angie. They have two beautiful children (also our grandchildren—we love our grandchildren) who are 7 and 4. Dick’s youngest, Rob Cowan, is currently in Iraq, serving with the 101st Airborne. He is a sergeant and Apache helicopter mechanic/team leader. Hopefully, he will be home soon. No wife yet but Rob is looking! So if you have a beautiful daughter looking for a nice guy, send her this way! We also have informally adopted a couple of granddaughters named Kelsey and Madison. They spend more time with us than the real grandchildren because they live here in Tulsa. My mom is 82 and doing pretty well. She doesn’t have to take medicine and still does things she probably shouldn’t. Other than arthritis with a bad back, she is very healthy. My sister lives with mother in Broken Arrow. She and I are very close and enjoy doing things together. Besides working, I love doing my artwork. (Norman will be proud!) Of course, I don’t do it for a living, but I have sold a few things and it is something that makes me happy. You can see some of my murals at www.mysteryadventures.com then scroll to the bottom where is says “Susan’s Murals”. Dick and I also love to country-western dance. These days, instead of going three times a week, we only go about 3 times a year! We also sometimes present murder mystery parties for company parties. You can read about those at the same website. Those are few and far between because of my schedule but we really enjoy doing them. There is so much more to say, I’m sure, but I will end it here so I have something to talk about at the reunion. See you there! Susan “Farinelli” Cowan Back to Biography List