Larry moved to a nearby farmhouse after living in the shack for several years. He worked at the Norco Window factory in Hawkins, Wisconsin, about 15 miles away. During this time of his life he met a cute, bubbly woman named Nancy.  I believe Nancy’s parents worked at Norco in Hawkins as well. Larry and Nancy married on September 19, 1970 at her church in Phillips, Wisconsin.

I don’t know much about Larry’s personal life. During our growing up years, he was eleven years older than me, and he moved out of the home when I was probably five or six years old so I didn’t know him as a child.  After Larry moved out of the basement house, he would stop by and visit, but he never talked much about himself or what he was doing or thinking. Larry was a quiet, peaceful man. He didn’t like to hunt or participate in the usual outdoor gaming activities that many of the young men did. He obviously didn’t want to be in the army or go to war.  (Read my blog, Larry Goes Missing).

Most of what I know about Larry after he left home are stories I’ve heard from others. Larry would spend time at Jump River Rosie’s Bar in Jump River, Wisconsin. As legend has it, at the bar one evening he met North Dakota Wayne. We never knew North Dakota Wayne’s last name, but to differentiate him from our brother, Wayne, he was just known to us as North Dakota Wayne. North Dakota Wayne was in Jump River at Rosie’s Bar one night, and he was desperate to find a place to stay temporarily until he found work and could afford his own place.

Larry took North Dakota Wayne home with him. Larry was quite sure he could get hired on at Norco Window Factory, so they come to a verbal agreement. North Dakota Wayne would stay with Larry, get a job, and after North Dakota Wayne got his first paycheck, then they would share the grocery expense. Larry would buy groceries for two weeks until North Dakota Wayne got paid, then North Dakota Wayne would buy groceries for the next two weeks and they would take turns. The day North Dakota Wayne got paid, he and Larry went to Jump River Rosie’s Bar to celebrate. Larry was measured in his celebrations and pretty much in all aspects of his life, but North Dakota Wayne spent his whole paycheck at Jump River Rosie’s that night buying food and drinks.

North Dakota Wayne apologized the next day and said he couldn’t afford to buy groceries for the next two weeks. Larry didn’t disparage him or complain, he simply said he probably had enough food to get them both through until North Dakota Wayne got paid again. Every day Larry cooked up rice and beans, they took rice and beans to work for their lunches, come home and eat more rice and beans.  North Dakota Wayne was so sick of eating rice and beans that when he got paid again, they went to the grocery store before they stopped at Jump River Rosie’s Bar.

But I digress, after Larry and Nancy married, they lived in a rented farmhouse a few miles down the road from our farm. In July of 1971, they welcomed a son, William. This was Pa and Ma’s first grandchild. We called him Billy when he was little , and he was a blond-haired bundle of joy. Apparently Larry and Nancy didn’t have a washing machine because after Billy was born, Nancy was overwhelmed trying to do laundry for the family with a baby. Nancy didn’t have a driver license, so she couldn’t get to a laundromat during the day when Larry was at work. They used cloth diapers back in those days, so they had an abundance of laundry. Pa would bring Nancy and Billy to our basement home once a week and Ma taught Nancy how to do laundry using a wringer washer. In our basement home we had a cold water faucet, but no hot water heater.

Laundry required the use of most of our basement house common living space. First, water was heated on the wood cookstove, then the washing machine had to be moved from the storage place in Pa and Ma’s bedroom to the living area. The washing machine was filled with warm water and the clothes and soap added. The washer agitator would swish and swish, then each piece of clothing had to be placed through the wringer. Ma had a rinse tub placed on a broken wooden chair that was missing the back part. Then the clothes were hand swished in the rinse tub and wrung through the wringer one more time to get more water squished out of them. Then the clothes were placed in a basket and hauled out to the clothesline in the back yard and hung up to dry. I remember Nancy making clothing piles on the floor and sorting through everything. Light colored clothing was washed first, then dark clothes would use the same wash water. White diapers were washed separately in hot water.

Once the washing was done, and clothes were drying on the line, Ma and I would make lunch for everyone, and there was time to visit and get Billy down for his nap. Larry would stop by on his way home from work and collect Nancy, Billy and the clothes off the line.

Their marriage was short-lived. I don’t know the details, but I do know life was difficult and Nancy was home alone every day with a young child and few conveniences. Nancy and Billy moved back to her parents’ home, and Nancy gave birth to a son, Robin, in October 1977. As I understand the situation, Nancy listed Larry as the father on the birth certificate, but Larry said it couldn’t possibly be true.

When Larry would make arrangements to visit the boys, there was always a problem or cancellation from Nancy or her parents. I remember encouraging Larry to challenge the paternity issue and demand a test. Larry, however, believed that if he caused any problems, it would make it even more difficult for Bill and Robin. Larry was not one for conflict or demanding his rights. Larry believed once Bill reached the age of 18, they would be able to have a relationship.

Larry spent many years working at Norco. Later he worked a variety of jobs. About 1984 Larry started working as a farm hand at the Walter Brooks Dairy near Jump River. This was a steady job, and they provided a cozy cabin to live in on the farm that had the basic amenities of life.

One afternoon in 1988 when I was visiting Pa and Ma, I went to visit Larry in his cabin on the Brooks Dairy. We sat at his table, drank coffee together, and he told me how much he liked working with the Brooks family.  This was a small cabin with windows, and a nice kitchenette. There were many dirty plates and cups on the table. I mentioned the dishes and asked if he had company recently. I offered to help with the dishes. He said there was no need to do the dishes, as no one stops by very often, and he sits at the same chair at the table every meal and just moves the dirty plates and cups around the table until all his plates and cups are dirty, then does the dishes. Since he still had a couple clean plates in the cupboard, it wasn’t time yet to do the dishes. He gave me that quirky smile of his. I invited him to come and visit my family in Forest Lake, Minnesota. I wrote down my address and drew a map of where our house was once he arrived in Forest Lake. He said he might do that sometime.

About a month later, Ma called me early on a Friday morning and asked if Larry had made arrangements to visit me that weekend. I hadn’t heard from Larry, but Ma said he just left their place and was driving over to my house, because I had invited him to come sometime. She was concerned that his car might not make it that far. He arrived later that day and spent the weekend with my family.

In 1989, before Bill turned 18, Larry was killed in a car accident. The bond he had dreamed of never came to fruition. Bill has stayed connected to our family throughout his adult years, and we are so very grateful.