Brena once told her daughter Toressa that Brena was not her original name. Brena claimed that she was originally named Brener or Breener (sp?), but she disliked that name and changed it to Brena.
Brena was a very active person all of her life. In her younger years, in addition to taking care of her family and handling many household chores, she was often involved in some sideline moneymaking activity. She sold Nobility Plate silverware door-to-door while the family lived in Amherst, Texas. Later she became an Avon representative in the Amherst area as well as in Artesia, New Mexico after the family moved there in the early 1950's. I believe she also continued to sell Avon after the family moved to Pecos, Texas in 1954. Later she got into antique bottle collecting. Brena located an old city dump on the outskirts of Pecos where she dug up many old and rare bottles from the late 1800's and early 1900's. This work eventually resulted in her opening a retail shop called the Collector's Nook in the family garage at 1234 Plum Street in Pecos. In the late-1960's Brena's father, James Henry Cook, came to Pecos to live with Brena and Verble, and Brena continued to look after him after they moved to Odessa in the early 1970's. In Odessa, Brena helped Verble with the grocery store that they had bought after leaving Pecos. She also moved part of her goods from the Pecos Collector's Nook into the grocery store. After they sold the store about a year and a half later, Brena seemed to concentrate her energies on collecting things and on fixing things up for the annual summer-time visit by her 3 grand daughters. Brena catered to these kids's every whim during these visits and almost wore poor Verble out with all kinds of 'honey-do' tasks. They had all kinds of toys and playthings for the kids, an elaborate playhouse, and an above ground swimming pool. Special meals and picnic outings as well as visits to local parks and a water play land were common activities that she and Verble arranged for the kids. The most memorable of Brena's collections, at least as far as I can recall, was her doll and photo collections and her herd of turtles that she kept in their fenced backyard. Her extensive doll collection included many mint condition dolls still in the original packaging. She maintained a large photo collection consisting mainly of family members and other relatives. She not only kept a set of photos for herself, but usually kept duplicate sets for her 2 children. She was quite diligent in making notations on the backs of these photos explaining who were in the pictures, when they were taken, ect. I found this a very valuable source of information when I started researching our family history. I also remember quite clearly her turtle collection. She had at one time probably a couple of dozen turtles that she named or numbered with fingernail polish. She kept records of their ages and growth over the years. She would tap on a can of dog food with a spoon and the turtles would come to her and eat out of the spoon. It was quite a remarkable sight.
Brena was a very active person all of her life. In her younger years, in addition to taking care of her family and handling many household chores, she was often involved in some sideline moneymaking activity. She sold Nobility Plate silverware door-to-door while the family lived in Amherst, Texas. Later she became an Avon representative in the Amherst area as well as in Artesia, New Mexico after the family moved there in the early 1950's. I believe she also continued to sell Avon after the family moved to Pecos, Texas in 1954. Later she got into antique bottle collecting. Brena located an old city dump on the outskirts of Pecos where she dug up many old and rare bottles from the late 1800's and early 1900's. This work eventually resulted in her opening a retail shop called the Collector's Nook in the family garage at 1234 Plum Street in Pecos. In the late-1960's Brena's father, James Henry Cook, came to Pecos to live with Brena and Verble, and Brena continued to look after him after they moved to Odessa in the early 1970's. In Odessa, Brena helped Verble with the grocery store that they had bought after leaving Pecos. She also moved part of her goods from the Pecos Collector's Nook into the grocery store. After they sold the store about a year and a half later, Brena seemed to concentrate her energies on collecting things and on fixing things up for the annual summer-time visit by her 3 grand daughters. Brena catered to these kids's every whim during these visits and almost wore poor Verble out with all kinds of 'honey-do' tasks. They had all kinds of toys and playthings for the kids, an elaborate playhouse, and an above ground swimming pool. Special meals and picnic outings as well as visits to local parks and a water play land were common activities that she and Verble arranged for the kids. The most memorable of Brena's collections, at least as far as I can recall, was her doll and photo collections and her herd of turtles that she kept in their fenced backyard. Her extensive doll collection included many mint condition dolls still in the original packaging. She maintained a large photo collection consisting mainly of family members and other relatives. She not only kept a set of photos for herself, but usually kept duplicate sets for her 2 children. She was quite diligent in making notations on the backs of these photos explaining who were in the pictures, when they were taken, ect. I found this a very valuable source of information when I started researching our family history. I also remember quite clearly her turtle collection. She had at one time probably a couple of dozen turtles that she named or numbered with fingernail polish. She kept records of their ages and growth over the years. She would tap on a can of dog food with a spoon and the turtles would come to her and eat out of the spoon. It was quite a remarkable sight.
Brena once told her daughter Toressa that Brena was not her original name. Brena claimed that she was originally named Brener or Breener (sp?), but she disliked that name and changed it to Brena.
Brena was a very active person all of her life. In her younger years, in addition to taking care of her family and handling many household chores, she was often involved in some sideline moneymaking activity. She sold Nobility Plate silverware door-to-door while the family lived in Amherst, Texas. Later she became an Avon representative in the Amherst area as well as in Artesia, New Mexico after the family moved there in the early 1950's. I believe she also continued to sell Avon after the family moved to Pecos, Texas in 1954. Later she got into antique bottle collecting. Brena located an old city dump on the outskirts of Pecos where she dug up many old and rare bottles from the late 1800's and early 1900's. This work eventually resulted in her opening a retail shop called the Collector's Nook in the family garage at 1234 Plum Street in Pecos. In the late-1960's Brena's father, James Henry Cook, came to Pecos to live with Brena and Verble, and Brena continued to look after him after they moved to Odessa in the early 1970's. In Odessa, Brena helped Verble with the grocery store that they had bought after leaving Pecos. She also moved part of her goods from the Pecos Collector's Nook into the grocery store. After they sold the store about a year and a half later, Brena seemed to concentrate her energies on collecting things and on fixing things up for the annual summer-time visit by her 3 grand daughters. Brena catered to these kids's every whim during these visits and almost wore poor Verble out with all kinds of 'honey-do' tasks. They had all kinds of toys and playthings for the kids, an elaborate playhouse, and an above ground swimming pool. Special meals and picnic outings as well as visits to local parks and a water play land were common activities that she and Verble arranged for the kids. The most memorable of Brena's collections, at least as far as I can recall, was her doll and photo collections and her herd of turtles that she kept in their fenced backyard. Her extensive doll collection included many mint condition dolls still in the original packaging. She maintained a large photo collection consisting mainly of family members and other relatives. She not only kept a set of photos for herself, but usually kept duplicate sets for her 2 children. She was quite diligent in making notations on the backs of these photos explaining who were in the pictures, when they were taken, ect. I found this a very valuable source of information when I started researching our family history. I also remember quite clearly her turtle collection. She had at one time probably a couple of dozen turtles that she named or numbered with fingernail polish. She kept records of their ages and growth over the years. She would tap on a can of dog food with a spoon and the turtles would come to her and eat out of the spoon. It was quite a remarkable sight.
Brena was a very active person all of her life. In her younger years, in addition to taking care of her family and handling many household chores, she was often involved in some sideline moneymaking activity. She sold Nobility Plate silverware door-to-door while the family lived in Amherst, Texas. Later she became an Avon representative in the Amherst area as well as in Artesia, New Mexico after the family moved there in the early 1950's. I believe she also continued to sell Avon after the family moved to Pecos, Texas in 1954. Later she got into antique bottle collecting. Brena located an old city dump on the outskirts of Pecos where she dug up many old and rare bottles from the late 1800's and early 1900's. This work eventually resulted in her opening a retail shop called the Collector's Nook in the family garage at 1234 Plum Street in Pecos. In the late-1960's Brena's father, James Henry Cook, came to Pecos to live with Brena and Verble, and Brena continued to look after him after they moved to Odessa in the early 1970's. In Odessa, Brena helped Verble with the grocery store that they had bought after leaving Pecos. She also moved part of her goods from the Pecos Collector's Nook into the grocery store. After they sold the store about a year and a half later, Brena seemed to concentrate her energies on collecting things and on fixing things up for the annual summer-time visit by her 3 grand daughters. Brena catered to these kids's every whim during these visits and almost wore poor Verble out with all kinds of 'honey-do' tasks. They had all kinds of toys and playthings for the kids, an elaborate playhouse, and an above ground swimming pool. Special meals and picnic outings as well as visits to local parks and a water play land were common activities that she and Verble arranged for the kids. The most memorable of Brena's collections, at least as far as I can recall, was her doll and photo collections and her herd of turtles that she kept in their fenced backyard. Her extensive doll collection included many mint condition dolls still in the original packaging. She maintained a large photo collection consisting mainly of family members and other relatives. She not only kept a set of photos for herself, but usually kept duplicate sets for her 2 children. She was quite diligent in making notations on the backs of these photos explaining who were in the pictures, when they were taken, ect. I found this a very valuable source of information when I started researching our family history. I also remember quite clearly her turtle collection. She had at one time probably a couple of dozen turtles that she named or numbered with fingernail polish. She kept records of their ages and growth over the years. She would tap on a can of dog food with a spoon and the turtles would come to her and eat out of the spoon. It was quite a remarkable sight.
