Claremore Daily Progress

Our View

Related Photos

  • Randy Cowling

    7.30-Randy-Cowling7-2010.jpg
August 13, 2010

The power of 13

Randy Cowling Managing Editor

CLAREMORE — No need to worry. Today has been a great day with no dark clouds hovering above.

For some Friday the 13th is a spooky and challenging day. Believe in superstition is just not worth all the anxiety. Being one who was born on the 13th (it was a Wednesday) I have a different take on all the hooplas associated with what some characterize as a dark day. There is no triskaidekaphobia in my DNA. It’s the phobic name for being afraid of the number 13 and specifically Friday the 13th.

Recently, I was digging through some of my mother’s photo albums. She was homecoming queen her senior year of high school. In the photo where the football players placed the crown on her head the date jumped out at me.

November 13, 1953 — it was a sign. That date was four years to the day before I would come along as her firstborn. It was a “13 Connection.” But the reach of 13 didn’t stop with the homecoming photograph.

My mother grew up in southwest Arkansas in a four-room house - 2 bedrooms, a living area and a kitchen. It wasn’t until the late 1950s did they run a water line into the house from the well. My mother’s family never had an indoor bathroom. No shower, no bathtub, only the sink in the kitchen.

This wasn’t uncommon for her era. But when you think she had 13 siblings, it makes you wonder how the girls prepared for school. My mother was number 13 in the family. It’s another “13 Connection.” I guess that’s why she never made a big deal about me being born on the 13th, because she had some link to the number.

One of the most popular and famous superstition is the unlucky Friday the 13th. Jesus was crucified on Friday and the “Last Supper” had a total of 13 people around the table. Another legend associated with this tradition goes that the Knights Templar were routed and killed by the opposing forces on Friday the 13th.

All the hub-bub surrounding 13 is purely based on people facing the unknown or who are attempting to explain a circumstance on Friday the 13th. For me and my household, 13 has power. It links one generation to the next and that is all that matters to me.

Randy Cowling is editor of the Claremore Daily Progress. 

Text Only
Our View
  • Randy Cowling Courthouse security applies to everyone there

    District Judge Dynda Post has elevated a serious issue at the Rogers County courthouse — security.

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo

  • Randy Cowling First looks are just that — first looks

    No one ever gets to make a second first impression.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • Burrage, sean.tiff Senate review by Sean Burrage

    Hailey Mathis is studying political science and history at the University of Oklahoma. She’s one of a very select group of college students each year who have the opportunity to learn about government and public service through an internship at the State Senate.  

    April 4, 2011 1 Photo

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif COLUMN: Napalming the Internet

    Try to remember the Internet before we had websites that host user generated content. No eBay. No YouTube. No Facebook. No Twitter. No LinkedIn. No Foursquare. No product reviews, blogs or personal websites where users comment and post links.

    January 18, 2012 1 Photo

  • SimpsonGameCartoon-012712.jpg Dr. Mosier’s online success

    Dr. Richard Mosier is nothing if not a visionary.  Over 20 years ago he first had the idea of what was then Rogers State College becoming Oklahoma’s first institution of higher education to offer online instruction.

    January 18, 2012 1 Photo

  • New Year

    Looking back on 2011 brings many things to mind.  It was a busy year traveling the state, actively promoting Oklahoma as a competitive state and supporting strong public policy.

    January 18, 2012

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif The Veepstakes and unseating an incumbent President

    The Iowa Caucuses are over. Let the Veepstakes begin.

    January 5, 2012 1 Photo

  • Randy Cowling Will Rogers resourcefulness hard to do but necessary

    Finding a resolution to a long-term problem is never easy.  It requires change and adjustment.

    December 18, 2011 1 Photo

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif What’s all the GRDA fuss about?

    At the request of Governor Mary Fallin, State Auditor Gary Jones issued a performance audit on December 8 for the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA),  covering a time period from July 1, 2003 through March 31, 2011.

    December 11, 2011 1 Photo

  • GRDA audit appears to be politically motivated

    When I learned a state audit of the Grand River Dam Authority had been earlier this year, I feared the request was made purely for political reasons.

    December 11, 2011