June/July 2085: postcards

Extras, outtakes, and updates from our supporting cast. Many of these photos were also posted on my Tumblr, but Tumblr is chaotic and lacks structure. So for the sake of documentation, and to choose favorites, these were some of the things that happened in the background of other stories in June and July of 1985.

The Lind and Roberts family: 


Paige and her little bestie, Tara Lind. Tara is a year younger than Paige, and going into fifth grade this fall.



But they're not too old to play dollhouse together sometimes, as long as nobody from school finds out about it.


The girls don't live very nearby each other—Paige is in Hazel Park, and Tara is in Lake City, but they met through their moms, who are also besties. Tara's little sister is Jenny, and she tags along often too.

Tracie and Ellie have been trying for years to get their husbands to hang out and become besties too—Tony Lind and Dale Roberts—but it hasn't happened yet. The two will chat and pass time together when the two families get together for barbecues or a day at the park or whatever, but they don't go out of their way otherwise. Ah well, can't have everything.

Beach bums: 


Summer and Tonya Jackson. Plus more adorable Tonya picspam.


Delilah, Naomi, and Ophelia Gibson.

Josh Nelson. 

Aspiring slumlord: 

Kevin bought a building. Not just an apartment; he actually bought a whole building. Never mind that it has no working plumbing, no working heat (it’s July, he figures he can get that sorted out before winter), and the windows are so drafty they might as well be open. He was sick of sleeping on people’s couches, so he bought himself somewhere to live.

And he’s not going to tell Ruby that he picked up these mattresses from Goodwill either, because then she wouldn’t touch them. He won’t tell her he caught a rat in the basement either.

He bought the building in foreclosure and he'll do most of the work himself. He hopes to take in his first tenants this fall.  

The Roselands in China: 


As the story goes, Charlie and Gabby's parents took a "research trip" to China, which ended up being more like a second honeymoon. Don't tell the kids.




More photos and assorted commentary here:
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve

Welcome to Lakeside Heights, new families: 

The Ellis and Guthrie/Miller families.



Dani and Brenden Ellis, ages 11 and 9.


Seth Ellis befriends Abby Guthrie.



Also new to LH are Joan Lofton and Kirk Thron (aka, Billy Idol the Magician). A mini-love story in four parts: one, two, three, four.

Sophia's 21st birthday: 


Sophia turned 21 in June, and her parents took her out for cocktails.


Josh is not 21 yet, but nobody believes that. Meanwhile, the bartender says to Sophia, "Look at that sweet face. Let's see some ID, honey."

And that was what happened behind the scenes in the summer of 1985.