Future Family History
The Wildcard
This project tells the story of my family history. For me, a significant piece of this history that I felt was missing was the history that my family is making today and has been making throughout my life. For this section, I have created a tribute to what I know today as my “family”. This is the family that I have grown spending time with and that has supported me throughout my life. The history of this family is wacky, fun, and unique, and each member of this family contributes to it in their own special way. This is my my future family history…
My Maternal Grandfather, Clyde Leroy James “Pa”
Clyde Leroy James, or as I like to call him, Pa, was born on January 24th, 1942 . Pa has gone by Leroy or Sonny during most of his life. Pa grew up in Oklahoma City pretty close to where I grew up. He attended Northwest Classen High School, which is about a five-minute drive from my house. Pa is the youngest sibling of his family, and he had to deal with having three older sisters growing up. I’m sure he annoyed the heck out of them. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he studied to be an Architect, which is what he worked as for the majority of his life. Pa, like many of my other male relatives, had a rather illustrious military career. He was the navigator on a B-52 Bomber for the U.S. Air-force during the Vietnam war, and he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. Nowadays, Pa is enjoying retirement. He loves playing golf, acting like a goof, going to Oklahoma City Thunder basketball games, and spending time with his family.
My Maternal Grandmother, Iris Elaine James “Ma”
Iris Elaine James, or as I like to call her, Ma, was born on June 28th, 1944. Ma, like Pa, grew up in Oklahoma City and attended Northwest Classen High School. Ma used to work as a school secretary in Yukon, Oklahoma, and she has always enjoyed spending time with kids. Ma, much like my mom, has had to put up with a lot of crap during her time as a grandmother. She has to deal with Pa, Uncle Chris, my dad, me, my brother, and my cousin, Max, but she still loves us all very much. Ma, like many grandmothers, makes ridiculously big portions of food for everyone whenever the family gets together. She is especially known for her chocolate cake and world-famous rolls (I actually have the ability to eat infinity of Ma’s rolls without stopping). Ma enjoys spending time with her family, going to Oklahoma City Thunder basketball games with Pa, reading, and playing card games.
My Mom, Monique “Niki” Bené James
My beautiful and amazing mother, Niki James, was born on April 15th, 1969 in Sacramento, California (Yes, she was born on tax day). However, she grew up most of her life in Yukon, Oklahoma, which is near Oklahoma City, where I grew up. Growing up, Niki enjoyed dancing, and she did ballet throughout her youth. Niki attended the University of Oklahoma, where she studied to become a Speech Pathologist, which is what she does for a living now. She has to put up with me, my dad, and my little brother, who are a bunch of sarcastic idiots. However, she loves us very much, and she makes sure we are taken care of. Niki enjoys doing crossfit, yoga, and playing tennis in her spare time.
My Dad, Michael David McClintock
My dad, Michael, was born June 19th, 1970 in Billings, Montana. He grew up in Billings with his mother, Charlene and his father, Myron. During his childhood, he loved to play sports like my brother and I, but he got to go skiing in the mountains on weekends as well. His favorite sport growing up was tennis, and he even played against the famous tennis player, Andre Agassi. My dad attended the Merchant Marine Academy for college and then spent four years on active duty in the navy before heading to law school at Oklahoma City University. Nowadays, my dad enjoys doing triathlons, chilling in his backyard sanctuary, and taking the family dog, Montana, to the park. He thinks he is much cooler than he actually is, and he also is under the illusion that he is more ripped than me, which he isn’t and never will be.
My Uncle, Christopher “Chris” Leroy James
Christopher Leroy James, or “Uncle Chris”, was born in 1972 in Yukon, Oklahoma. Chris grew up in Yukon with my mom, Niki, and attended Oklahoma State University, where he studied to become a Physician’s Assistant, which he now is. Chris likes to tell me that he takes care of morons who hurt themselves for a living. Chris is known in our family as someone who is always looking to getting into a wrestling bout with his son, me, my brother, or my dad. He is a pretty crazy and fun uncle, and a great dad. He also takes a very long time to hit his golf shots.
My Aunt, Jennifer James
Jennifer James, or as I like to call her, Aunt Jen, was born on November 5th, 1972 in Yukon, Oklahoma. She studied at Oklahoma City University, and she now works at a place called Gimme Sugars that does Brazilian waxes and other similar services. She is known in our family as “Crazy Aunt Jen”. This is because at times she gets a little crazy if she has one too many. However, those of us who aren’t part of the James family know that this is only because it can be so annoying to put up with their crap sometimes, and it’s often easier to just let loose that to try to deal with it. Jen is always the life of the party, but she is also a very fun aunt and an outstanding mother of two.
My Brother, Matthew Michael McClintock
Matthew Michael McClintock was born on March 2nd, 2001 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I grew up with him, and as my younger brother, he can be quite annoying at times. He currently attends Heritage Hall High School, and he enjoys playing golf and “just chilling with his friends”. He really wants my parents to “just leave him alone” and let him “do whatever he wants” because he makes “good grades”. I made good grades in high school too and didn’t get any of that. Whenever I come home my brother and I enjoy chilling, making fun of my mom and dad, and playing Call of Duty Zombies together.
My Cousin, Max Leroy James
Max Leroy James was born on September 28th, 2004 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He currently attends Deer Creek Middle School and enjoys trucking people into the ground and juking people out in his lacrosse games. He also runs cross country in the offseason to stay in shape, and he already has a much better six pack than my brother, Matthew. Max currently suffers from what I like to refer to as the “James-McClintock male condition of not going through puberty until way after everyone else”. I suffered through it, as did my brother, dad, uncle, and grandfather. Don’t worry, Max! Your time will come. Although he is waiting for his growth spurt now, Max is the only family member with the potential to pass me as the tallest in our family.
My Cousin, Emma Kelly James
Emma Kelly James was born on May 12, 2006 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Emma is the youngest in the family… until I have a kid, which is a scary thought. She, like her brother, attends Deer Creek Middle School. She currently plays the trombone, but she has recently told me that she does not enjoy playing it enough to continue with it in high school. She has also recently started playing volleyball, which I have gathered she is really enjoying and excelling at. What can I say? I guess volleyball skills run in the family. Emma may have some potential to be tallest in the family, but I don’t think it’s likely she will pass me. She does however already hold the title for tallest girl in the family, which is pretty cool. She is currently in the process of learning how to deal with the crap of the guys in the family and seems to be progressing decently well at this.
