Opal .R. Helm Stories

Gerry Teskey: September 12, 1923 - April 20, 2023

by Jennifer Huggins May 09, 2023

Gerry Teskey entered the gates of Heaven on Thursday night, April 20th, in Marshall, Texas, at the age of 99. She was born Geraldine Ruth Helm on ...

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Triple T Saddlery - Dallas, TX

by Jennifer Huggins March 26, 2020

The sign on this building says Triple T Saddlery. The T stood for my grandparents’ last name, Teskey. And they had 3 kids. Get it? ;) This was one ...

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Love Was In The Air

by Jennifer Huggins February 14, 2020

Love was in the air. Literally. This photo of my grandparents was snapped right after my grandfather finished his final flight as a Braniff capta...

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My Grandfather, My Friend

by Jennifer Huggins November 16, 2019

My grandfather went to Heaven on Saturday night, October 26th, in a nursing facility in a tiny town in East Texas. I had the privilege of being wit...

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Celebrating 100 Years Well Lived

by Jennifer Huggins October 29, 2019

On Saturday, October 26, 2019, we said goodbye to my grandfather. He struggled with a bad bout of pneumonia over the summer, and it took a toll on ...

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Sorry, Not Sorry

by Jennifer Huggins June 01, 2019

1990-something. My cousin, Traci, and I are perched on a tractor at our grandparents' property on Lake Fork outside of Alba, Texas. A whopping po...

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Dallas Bluebonnets Boasting - 1965

by Jennifer Huggins April 01, 2019

Bluebonnets putting on a show in Dallas, 1965ish. Preston Hollow for the Dallas folks. It looked a bit different back then. My mother is there in...

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Celebrating A Century - Happy 100th Birthday!

by Jennifer Huggins March 11, 2019

Today, March 11th, 2019, my grandfather, George Teskey, turns 100 years young! ONE HUNDRED. Wow. Can you imagine living for a century? I spoke t...

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The Blue Barn

by Jennifer Huggins January 18, 2019

Please meet the Blue Barn. Circa 1979. It was the first structure built when my grandparents retired from the airlines and saddle businesses and m...

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Mine, Not Yours - The Spare Cadillac Keys

by Jennifer Huggins January 17, 2019

When I had to hand over the keys to the 1976 Cadillac that my grandparents gave to me in high school, not only did I keep the original George Key ...

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The Original George Key Case

by Jennifer Huggins January 16, 2019

Please meet the original George Key Case. Born in 1976 at a Cadillac dealership in Michigan. When you bought a car back then, it often came with a...

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Please Meet Opal

by Jennifer Huggins January 01, 2019

Please meet Opal, the woman behind our name and my great-grandmother. She was born Opal Ruth Halsey in 1900. She met and married Albert Helm ("Gag...

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