The Meeting and first years
2003-11-05 | 8:12 p.m.

So here's how Troy tells it:

He was sitting in a diner somewhere in the south (I don't remember what state he said he was in) eating supper with his partner. Some truck drivers have partners so one can drive while the other sleeps. They don't call them partners though. I can't remember what the word is. So they were in a greasy spoon, flirting with the white trash waitresses. Troy said that each had a waitress on his lap. Soon they would be leaving for New Jersey.

Suddenly, Troy looked across the table and told his partner that they had to go. He jumped up, the waitress fell to the floor, he paid, and they left. The partner thought he was crazy (as people are wont to do) for leaving so abruptly, especially when they had easy greasy sleazy waitresses fawning all over them. The partner really objected when he realized they were going in the opposite direction of their original destination. Troy had set his course for New Mexico and nothing was going to change his mind.

After several hours of driving, he saw a young girl of 16 standing on the side of the road with a large suitcase.

"There. That's why we came."

He pulled over and she climbed in. He told her how dangerous it was to be hitchhiking at night, especially in that area (there are a lot of penetentiaries in Central New Mexico with signs everywhere warning people not to pick up hitchhikers).

He asked her where she wanted to go and she said California. She had family there. So he took her to California and dropped her off at her grandmother's (in Los Angeles).

"In two weeks, I'm coming back for you."

In the meantime, she turned 17, and on April 4, 1968, they were married...in Mexico or somewhere. He was 38. From there they went to her parents (who absolutely hated Troy...the feeling was mutual), got their permission, and then were married again.

That's the end of his dramatization. Here's what happened next.

They went back to Texas and for a year moved around a lot while Troy tried to eke out a living. He wasn't very good at it. At one point they had to live in a shack without running water. Mom wasn't sure what to do in her new role. She never cleaned or cooked. She didn't know how to cook. She just watched soap operas (obviously this was not when they were living in the shack..that was only for a brief time).

One day a couple Troy knew came over, and there was underwear and other unsightly things just lying around. After they left, Troy quietly suggested that she clean. After that moment, everywhere they lived was always spotless.

Their relationship was rocky from the beginning. Though patient in some regards, Troy can have a scary, fiery temper when it comes to other things. Mom tried to leave him several times. She even ran away at one point..back to her parents. He went and got her.

Ok, I have to say something here. I was just rereading this entry, and I want to state for the record, that my mom is an amazingly strong woman. She doesn't run away from just anything. On the rare occasions she has run, it was because it seemed to be the only option.

Troy also frequently threatened to kill her and her entire family. How devoted is that.

Eventually, they wound up in a little town in West Texas. On July 16, 1969 Kenneth Lynn was born. Troy adored him. Doted on him. Loved him more than any person he had ever or has ever loved. Kenneth was his very favorite child, and the other four kids knew it. I don't think Brenda really cared, but I imagine the boys resented him terribly. They went to live with Troy and Mom and Kenneth in that small town in a tiny house.

Mom said they were merciless to him in their teasing and playing. But Kenneth idolized them. He wanted to be just like them. He still does.

Eventually, they started their own little businesses. Troy had a trucking company. Jimmy, Jackie, and Marvin had some gas stations and repair shops between them. They were doing well.

Also during this time Jimmy married a beautiful brunette named Vanna and had a daughter named Lori. Once again (check back for the entry about Lori) I have forgotten her full name. It's Deborah Lori or something. I think there may be an "Anne" in there somewhere. Vanna was a very glamorous looking, constantly smiling woman (I'm going from old home videos). I should discuss the brothers in seperate entries. There's just too much to tell.

Marvin and Jackie got married too...I'll tell you later.

Kenneth was spoiled from day one. Even the brothers pitched in. Though they loved to tease him, they also really loved him I think...or grew to love him as they realized how much he worshipped them.

Troy would drive him around in the middle of the night because that helped him sleep. As he grew, the family became more prosperous...to the point that Kenneth only had to hint at wanting something, and he got it.

When he was seven, they sold their little businesses and moved to the town I grew up in. There they bought some land on the river and opened up a trucking business. They had a fleet of trucks used to haul water and oil. They also had construction equipment.

Mom and Troy bought a blue trailer house and moved it onto what we called "The Yard." There was also an island in the river that they owned where we would have cook outs and Kenneth used as a race track. They ran their business out of this trailer and lived in it for a couple of years.

Oh, there's a ghost story with this trailer. When it was first moved onto The Yard, Mom and Jimmy's second wife Luisa (see there's more to the above story) were looking it over. There was a door in the hallway that was locked, so they went to Troy to get the key. Troy said they had all the keys, so they went back in to try them again. When they got back into the trailer house, the door was gone. There was just a wall there.

My mom is not superstitious (Luisa is EXTREMELY superstitious). She's also not a flake, so I know she wouldn't think something was there unless it really was there. After Luisa told me the story, I asked Mom. Her response, "I don't want to talk about it." I pressed. Finally, she said, "yes. there was a door there, and then it was gone."

Weird huh?

During this time Kenneth accumulated go carts, dirt bikes, an allowance comparable to most of his friends' parents' salaries, and naturally lots of friends. Troy sponsored his softball team, so Kenneth's last name was on every shirt. Lori played on the team too. I have to say she was the most adorable little girl. She was like a doll, and she still has the most infectious, wonderful laugh that she did when she was little.

He literally got whatever he wanted. Nothing was too much. That little boy on the Twilight Zone Movie that was feared by the whole family reminds me of what he must have been like. His go carts were cool too, because they weren't just regular frames. They had shells so they looked like real vehicles. I'm not talking about the little fisher price stuff. These were customized jobs just for him. He broke his arm on one of them. Later I would inherit the shell of that go cart. It was a yellow stock car. I never got a go cart, though I asked for one at every opportunity. Am I bitter? Nah. Just wait till you find out what all that indulgence did to him.

Two months before Kenneth turned nine, he lost his status as the only child of Jean and Troy. I entered the world and RUINED EVERYTHING.

But that's for another time.

back to top