We spent a few months in Falls Church, Virginia, while Dad worked at the Pentagon, an assignment he hated.
Mary's bronchitis helped Ken get transferred back to El Paso in 1959. Of course we drove. Pool time on the road.
Ken and Mary bought their first home in a new suburban development called Milagro Hills.
They took great pride in it.
By 1960, I didn't need the training wheels or much encouragement to show off.
The neighborhood kids adored Ken for this kind of fun.
Here I am with Mike Johnson and Luther Hitchcock. I idolized Mike (left), a year older than me. His father worked as an engineer for the railroad, just like my grandfather had. Luther (right) ate his own boogers.
Pat Grady was my other best friend. He lived in the house behind us and often climbed over the wall to visit. It looks like he's wearing a clerical collar. We're both missing teeth.
The back yard Beau Brummel of Milagro Hills.
Here's another rare family portrait, taken at my first cousin's house.
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| Norfolk, VA (1958) |
Ken and Mary bought their first home in a new suburban development called Milagro Hills.
They took great pride in it.
By 1960, I didn't need the training wheels or much encouragement to show off.
Ken in his dress uniform.
Investigating criminals at Ft. Bliss gave him plenty of time for home improvement. I forgot he built the backyard patio.
As Ken would say, "pretty neat, huh?"
Keeping that lawn looking like a green carpet took plenty of effort.
And water. Lots and lots of water.
Otherwise the city resembled a dust bowl. The El Paso Times proudly printed how many consecutive days the sun had shined in the upper right-hand corner of the front page.
The Karmann Ghia looks as tiny as the Juarez airport.
The neighborhood kids adored Ken for this kind of fun.
Here I am with Mike Johnson and Luther Hitchcock. I idolized Mike (left), a year older than me. His father worked as an engineer for the railroad, just like my grandfather had. Luther (right) ate his own boogers.
Pat Grady was my other best friend. He lived in the house behind us and often climbed over the wall to visit. It looks like he's wearing a clerical collar. We're both missing teeth.
.
Pat, Mike and Luther when they're a bit older. As they say in epidemiological studies, all lost to follow-up now.
Mary's parents, Mary and Earl Ostrander, spent Christmas 1959 with us. I called them Oma and Opa, probably something I picked up from Hilda. They took the train from Daytona Beach, where they had retired several years earlier.
I loved going to Daytona to see Oma and Opa, too. Both Ken and Smokin' Mary quit while we lived at 5108 Marcillus. The doctor told her she'd be walking around with an iron lung if she didn't.
Ken loved the fact that cars could drive on the beach. He never would have made this mistake.
Florida offers plenty of activities to entertain animal-crazy grandchildren. I only wish there had been a picture of me with the baby chick that Oma and Opa gave me one Easter. Ken and Mary must have loved that. They had to find a farm where it could live on the long drive back to Texas.
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