Sharing Memories: (Week 24) My Friend Lois

 The Mystery Date Game was popular with Lois and I

My friend Lois lived across the yard from us in a duplex facing ours. She was about 2 years or so older than me but only one grade above me in school. We usually walked to school together and spent a great deal of time together... until her family moved. Her father was an alcoholic. I remember that he stayed gone a lot and when he did come home, he usually had a beer in his hand and also smelled like one. Her mother drank too, but I don't think she drank as heavy or as often.

Lois was a very pretty girl with tan skin and long black wavy hair. I admired her long thick hair and often wished mine was like hers. She was an only child and had a bedroom of her own filled with all sorts of games and such. She had a record player and we often sat in her room playing games while listening to music such as tunes by The Beatles and The Monkees. One of our favorite board games was Mystery Date. Another was Hands Down. We shared a lot of girl talk, Lois and I. She seemed to know a lot more about things than I did. 

When I heard the news that Lois was moving, I was sad and depressed for a while. She and I had become close friends, mainly because we lived within a few steps of each other. I missed her greatly when she was gone.

A few years later, I was at another friends house... and I saw a girl playing next door whom reminded me of Lois. As I walked closer to her, I realized that it was indeed Lois. She didn't recognize me because I had grown quite a bit since she had last seen me. We talked a lot about our old times together and laughed about the truths she had exposed me to. Her mother had remarried and was doing well. Lois was attending school and doing just great. She agreed to keep in touch with me after that, but she didn't. I have sometimes wondered whatever happened to her.

Hands Down was a popular game in the 1960's