Photo Pest: FLASHBACK: The Lois Years (1975

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

FLASHBACK: The Lois Years (1975 - 1992)

After Mary died, Ken played the field for a couple of years. He dated only Lois, a single mother, seriously. She pretty much ran the El Paso Board of Realtors and lived with her four, mostly grown kids not far from us.

1977

I hadn't quite let go of El Paso and visited frequently after graduating from college, often to borrow one of Ken's cars for road trips to Colorado and California. Charlie, who'd gone deaf, hung on for a couple of years.

1977

Ken waited until Mary's mother died before marrying Lois in 1978.

Mary L. Ostrander, age 88

I knew Lois quite well because I had dated Barb, her daughter in high school. She'd even flown to New York City to visit me at Columbia my sophomore year.

Dog Canyon (1978)

David, Barb's younger brother, and Ken got along like gangbusters. David eventually moved to Rock Springs, Wyoming where he married, had two children and established a thriving appliance repair business. He inherited Ken's tools.

1977

Kathy, Barb's older sister, relocated to California after graduating from high school. Ken and David helped her move back to El Paso in the early 80s. When Kathy eventually met and married an Air Force pilot, Ken walked her down the aisle.

Kathy had a twin brother, Kenny, who moved to Kansas City, leaving behind both his dog Shawnda

. . . and his yellow VW bug, which he bought at Ken's urging to drive back and forth from the oil wells where he worked in Midland, Texas. Kenny wrote music, too.

I marveled at Ken's instant family. 9912 Collette had suddenly become a very lively place. It suited him. He loved calling himself "the patriarch." And I loved what Lois, who called him Hon (they always referred to each other by their last names, a peculiarity I never understood because Lois kept her first husband's name) loved to say about him: "Hon may not always be right, but he's always sure!"

1984

Ken bonded with Lois's siblings, too. Her brother Marvin and Betty lived closest, in Albuquerque, a three- hour drive north of El Paso.

1980

Ken and Lois visited me a couple of times at 47 Pianos. They stopped driving when thieves broke into Ken's Vanagon. We also toured the nation's capital in 1986.

West 88th Street (1981)

Lois and I had a great relationship. I will never forget how hard she laughed when I took them via the subway to Sunday brunch at Windows on the World.

We passed a table of nuns going to our table. "I wonder what Mother Teresa is having for breakfast this morning," I whispered.

I was surprised when Barb married Ted, who played tennis in high school. But not as surprised as when he walked out on her, shortly after they adopted a baby. Ted left her without a penny in the brand new home they'd bought to raise a family.

Ken, Lois, Barb, Ted (1979)

Barb worked full-time which meant that Brett spent a lot of time with Ken and Lois. Everyone called him BJ.

1982

Brett is perched on the elephant that Ken brought back from Saigon.

1982

Ken & Lois stayed together until Ken's death in 1992. Lois lived almost two decades longer.

1983

As BJ got older, the house grew less and less like the one where I had lived. I have to admit, it felt a little strange.

1984

Ken's garage was the one place that NEVER changed. Is it any wonder he adored BJ?

1984

Barb started going out again, which created tension with Lois especially when she stayed out late.

(ca 1984)

I enjoyed playing guncle whenever I returned to El Paso with Rio Grande excursions.

Rio Grande (1985)

I tried turning BJ on to "PeeWee's Playhouse."

1986

I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the inflatable Godzilla I put under the tree that year a lot more.

1986

Barb eventually remarried. David had played football at a rival high school a decade after we graduated. They split, too, although not before adopting Brittany, giving BJ a younger sister. David told BJ he was leaving Barb the night before BJ visited me with a friend in New York City.