Parker County Today February 2020 | Page 14

jet lagged. The next morning, Lauren’s phone rang.
It was Clyde’s voice on the line, asking, “Hey, was I
dreaming or did you actually say you would go out
with me?”
That was on March 22, 2010.
“As soon as we started dating, I knew that I loved
him,” Lauren said. “Just like that. Boom, it was done.
There was no question about it. Our friends all said
that we were like an ‘old married couple.’ We made
decisions together.”
Lauren and Clyde graduated from high school
together and when they both went off to college — it
was together at Tarleton State for two years. But, they
finished out their respective educations apart. For the
first time in years they found themselves in a long-
distance relationship. Lauren, was in College Station
at Texas A&M pursuing a major in geology while
Clyde was in Odessa at The University of Texas of
the Permian Basin studying petroleum engineering.
For many young couples, pursuing degrees in
separate towns can mean the end of their relation-
ship. That was not the case with Clyde and Lauren.
The Proposal
“The proposal was awesome,” Lauren said. “We
went to Hawaii with his parents.” Clyde surprised
Lauren by proposing on the edge of a volcano. “It
was a dormant volcano in Maui.” As they were driv-
ing up the mountain, Lauren, ever the geologist, was
fascinated by the rocks and the terrain. Clyde brought
the engagement ring with him, knowing he would
propose in Hawaii, but not sure exactly when, how
or where.
Once they arrived at the top, Lauren took off
ahead of the group to go exploring. At 10,000-feet
above sea level, above the clouds, “I was up taking
pictures of rocks,” she said. Meanwhile Clyde and
his mother were searching for the ring in the car.
“I turned around and he was down on one knee,
slipped the ring on my finger and his mother was
video taping,” Lauren heard him say, “I guess now is
as good a time as any.”
Lauren was crying by then. Although she is
certain whatever Clyde said was wonderful, she was
stunned, to the point that she can’t remember what
12
Mother and daughter
he said. Her answer was, “Are you sure?” He assured her he
was absolutely certain.
Clyde and Lauren were officially engaged for three years.
They love just spending time together. When they are
bored or don’t have anything to do and it’s a pretty day out,
you can often find them driving the backroads of west Texas,
gazing at the land around them, soaking up the sun, and blar-
ing Red Dirt Country Music from the radio.
Somewhere along the way, with their degrees in hand and
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