By Chase Rheam
Stillwater NewsPress
STILLWATER, Okla. —
Cowboy Corner has been a staple on Sixth Avenue in Stillwater for years. Kevin Gum, who owns the store, is a single parent with two children – Trevor, 10 and Landry, 11.
“Landry is a special needs child,” Gum said. “He just turned 11 this past May. I refer to him as my miracle child because when he was born the outlook for him was not good.”
Landry was born at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. He spent the first 12 days of his life at the Eastern Oklahoma Perinatal Center, a unit of St. Francis. Landry had multiple seizures, almost every minute, Gum said. Doctors did not expect him to survive. His health improved, but the extent of the damage to the left side of his brain left doctors and Gum wondering how severe the effects would be.
“I remember sitting around a big table full of doctors and nurses and they talked about Cerebral Palsy alot, wheelchairs and some of the things that as a parent, especially a first time parent, you have just the worst fears of,” Gum said.
After 12 days, Gum and his wife took Landry home. Throughout his childhood, Landry’s speech has improved. Gum said doctors believed Landry would never talk, but he has begun to string three or four words together into sentences. His school work has improved, and Gum said many teachers are amazed at the progress he’s making.
“He’s just continued to progress and beat odds that none of us thought were possible, but hoped for,” said Gum.
Gum and his wife had another child, Trevor, close to the same day they had Landry, only a year later. Gum and his wife divorced a few years later, making him a single parent. While Gum runs Cowboy Corner, he must juggle the responsibilities of being a parent as well.
“They’re my world,” said Gum. “I get up every day and get it started about 5 or 5:30 in the morning and some days it doesn’t stop until midnight at night. And there’s a lot of go in between that, between running the businesses, getting them to their ball games, getting them to their schools. ...”
Gum also became a managing partner in a frozen yogurt shop. The shop, once called Shakes, was purchased and opened in September 2008 under a different name. Gum decided to rename the shop after Landry. Trevor, Gum’s other son, had told his father that “one day we’re going to name something after me, daddy.” Gum explained why he named the shop after Landry and he said that now it makes all the sense in the world to Trevor. Gum also said that Trevor and Landry have a great relationship.
“Trevor really understands Landry’s situation,” said Gum. “He’s the ultimate sibling to a special needs child.”
Gum said the businesses are a big part of the boys’ lives.
“Yeah, in the back of my mind, I think it would be neat if me and my best friend Landry could tool around together and he develops to a point where he can do some kind of work on an assisted basis,” Gum said. “Trevor, at age 10, talks about nothing but running the business and being in the business now. I think that every person that opens a small business hopes that it will grow and that their family will be involved in it and certainly that their children will want to take to another level down the road. ...”
Gum said that some days are hard.
“Both of those kids are the world to me,” Gum said. “There’s days you hang your head a little bit. I’m not going to deny that. There’s days you sit out on the back porch at the end of the day and you’re just kind of going, “Whew, made it through another day’ and you cry a little bit. And you just get through it. Sometimes, you get real emotional about it. And I’ve never had a problem with that. That’s just who I am. And it’s difficult at times, but goddangit, all you got to do is walk into the bedroom and look at the two boys asleep in their bed and you go, ‘Hey, this ain’t too bad. I’m going to get up and go do it again tomorrow’ and you just get up and go do it again tomorrow.”
Gum genuinely enjoys his responsibilities.
“I love what I do,” said Gum. “I have a passion for the businesses. I have a passion for being a parent. I have a passion for broadcasting women’s basketball at Oklahoma State and I have a passion for all my friends, so that makes it easy.”
