Op Ed Colby Free Press Wednesday, March 3, 2004 Page 3 Guess you could call They were a good bunch of people Harry Higgins’ daughters asked As the years went by, three of the for recollections and stories about four couples bought cabins at the it a super-duper mess their father for his funeral. Steve Haynes city lake, and the social life shifted My home is a wreck. I couldn’t think of one single out there. It was a great place to be, It wasn’t this big of a Cynthia story that would tell you about Along but as pre-teens, we hated the iso- mess when I had three Harry, which is odd, because I’ve • the Sappa lation. children at home. Haynes known him all my life. There are times when I’d give After refinancing the Where do I start? anything to go back to those simple house last year, we de- Open Harry and his wife Betty were days, though. cided to do a little re- • part of a circle of friends who lived Harry was the successful sales decorating. We’ve lived Season their lives, raised their children and group. Their lives and their families house was work enough. manager of a successful local firm. here for 10 years and enjoyed each other’s company in were intertwined over the years in The group wasn’t constantly to- Then the company changed and have only painted one through the house is to walk side- Emporia, in eastern Kansas. a unique bond that almost defies gether. I don’t remember that many they bought him out. That was hard, room — actually the children ways. Harry decided that he wasn’t get- description. They all led middle- times when all four couples were in but as things turned out, maybe for painted it and it’s a lovely blue. The dining room table is sitting in ting enough from dialysis treat- class lives, striving for the Ameri- one place, and there were others the best. The rest of the house, however, the middle of the living room and ments to make it worth the pain and can dream in that GI-bill era after who came and went. He and Betty lived well in their needed an overhaul, and with 10 the china cabinet and cedar chest are suffering. He told the doctor he was World War II. They thought they But we were always at retirement as they watched the oth- years of equity and a lower interest in the middle of the dining room. going home and having a shot of could raise their kids well in a small somebody’s house to visit in the ers die off one by one. rate, we were able to talk the bank Everything had to be moved to the scotch. Kansas town. evening. The adults would have That era is pretty much gone. into some remodeling money. center of the room so the painters That was Harry. He loved his Harry and Betty had come down highballs. The kids went to play. Rare is the marriage where both We are in the process of painting could work. scotch, and he knew when to fold. from Kansas City, Kansas, as my There were other couples who partners don’t work. three bedrooms, a sitting room, the At the same time we’ve had elec- I’m sure it wasn’t an easy deci- folks had. Harry was a salesman, joined, but those four were eternal. There may be people who form living room, the dining room and tricians putting up a new light fix- sion. Betty had a stroke several my dad a lawyer. There was Lamar My brother said the thing he re- that kind of lifelong bond, but the two bathrooms. We’ve also decided ture in the dining room. At the mo- years ago and is in a nursing home. and Zelma Dee Markowitz; Lamar membered was when they got to- way we move around today, I think to do the kitchen but not until every- ment the old fixture is stored in the I know he hated to leave her. They’d profane and funny, a contractor who gether, they were having fun. it’s harder. thing else is done. We will be basement and the dining room ceil- been together since before the war, built a good business but always There wasn’t a jerk in the bunch. More of us live in cities, and the recarpeting three rooms and two ing has a bare bulb. The new fixture 64 years. talked like a ditch digger. Bob and They were all nice people, honest, social structure is different. stairways. will have a ceiling fan and that re- The last day, he waited until the Lucy Foncannon rounded out the hard-working, successful. Their But that was a time, and that was The painters have been in and out quires more work than just pulling girls could bring their mom up to see group; he was a banker. children turned out the same way. a gang. I miss them all. for the last two weeks. They have one thing down and shoving an- him before he let go. Everyone fig- None of the wives, in those They were good couples. There ——————————— finished our bedroom and it is in other up. Still, I’m not complaining. ured he just wanted to say good- 1950s-Leave-It-to-Beaver, days, was never a divorce. If there was Steve and Cynthia Haynes are pretty good shape. I was worried The single 100-watt bulb gives bye. had an regular outside job. They infidelity, it must have been awfully owners of Nor’West Newspapers, that we wouldn’t be able to sleep more light than the ornate antique My folks were part of that social thought raising kids and keeping discreet. including the Colby Free Press. there for the two nights that it was fixture that was just removed. It had being done, but the fumes were five sockets and none of them minimal and it hasn’t been too bad. worked. The rest of the house is a differ- To add to the mess, we had wall- ent matter. We couldn’t use the paper in both bathrooms and the downstairs bathroom for two days dining room that had to be removed. and that drove me crazy both be- There are little bits and pieces of it cause that’s where the tub is — everywhere. I’m sure the cats are upstairs we have a shower — and responsible for a good deal of the because like a little child, I’m used mess, but the house looks like there to rushing in the back door at the last has been a confetti war and it lost. minute and now I had to run all the I can’t wait for the painting to be way upstairs. done. Then the crew will come in While our bedroom is usable, the and pull up all the carpeting. Even other three are not, that includes the the room the kids painted needs new Doonesbury one the kids painted last year. Two carpet. All those things stored in of the bedrooms are full of furniture there and in the other bedrooms will • Gary Trudeau that belongs somewhere else and have to be moved — not to where the third is the repository of all the they belong — that area is still un- painter’s equipment. der construction — but somewhere, The sitting room is getting back probably my bedroom. into shape, but I still can’t find half I know everything will look great my stuff and there is a two-wheeler when the painting and carpeting is sitting under one edge of the couch. done and we have a new light fix- That worries me a little. ture. Then everything will go back The living and dining rooms are in its place and we’ll be back to our total disasters. Please, please don’t normal messiness instead of this visit me. The only way to get super-duper mess. 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