Candi Lordo and Franny Hall Pasbach

[00:03] CANDI LORDO: I'm Candi Lordo. I'm 64 years old. Today is Monday, May 15, 2022. We're in the beautiful Ozarks and my partner today is Franny hall pasbach and we're 50 years friends.

[00:19] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: My name is Franny Hall Pasbach I'm 64 years old. It's Monday, May 16th, and we're in the Ozarks and my interview partner is Candi Lordo. And my relationship to her is she's my best friend.

[00:39] CANDI LORDO: We are here today to celebrate our 50th friendship anniversary. We're calling it the 50 friendiversary by making this recording.

[00:49] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: We met at my school bus stop in January of 1972. That was the beginning.

[00:56] CANDI LORDO: So how did you arrive in your hometown of Gladstone?

[01:00] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, you know. And my parents moved between Arkansas and Missouri a few times because of my dad's work. And we finally settled in Gladstone, Missouri in 1967. And I had three of my four siblings had already moved out, so I was pretty much alone. My last sister was getting ready to go in the air Force. Plus we only had boys on the whole street to play with. So I had six to ten boys to play with all the time. Well, we had a great time. We did a lot of skateboarding, a lot of swimming, basketball, baseball, football. But it sure wasn't like having a girl to hang out with. So when I saw you and your sister, two girls standing at the bus stop my age, I was so excited. I just picture a 5 foot 10 inch, 170 pound goofy girl running up to a total stranger saying, hi, my name is Frances Hall. So how did you end up in the neighborhood, Candi

[02:00] CANDI LORDO: Well, after we started moving every six months for a year and a half, we finally landed in Kansas City. It's where my dad had found a job. But we'd never been there. And our time of life at that time was just a giant upheaval because my mom had died. So my dad had enrolled us in his school. And on the first day that we were to go, he pointed to a street corner and said, get your egg. Stand there for the bus. So all five foot of me goes to stand at the corner with my sister. Soon a group of kids came walking up and that's when I met Franny. She pushed her way through the front of the group and extended her hand and said, hi, my name is Frances Hall.

[02:39] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: We didn't have a lot of classes together, but we always sat together on the bus coming to and from school and after school. The best thing was we'd stop at my house and raid my mom's cookie jar.

[02:49] CANDI LORDO: Yes, her house was always the best for after school snacks. See, her dad was a chef and so there was always cookies and goodies at her house.

[03:01] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Candi would you tell everybody what happened to you around your 15th birthday?

[03:05] CANDI LORDO: Well, still, things at home were not to my liking. So being the person that I am, I ran away. It wasn't as scary back then as it would be doing that today. But the following year I became an emancipated minor.

[03:20] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: And shortly after that, Candi needed a place to stay for a couple weeks and my parents didn't hesitate to let her stay with us.

[03:27] CANDI LORDO: Well, I finally got to a place and was able to settle and I finished high school and I was able to spend my senior week with Franny at Palm de Terre Lake camping.

[03:38] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: So after a week of merriment, as only the 70s you could have lots of swimming, sunburns and bonfires, we returned to our start our lives. I landed a job at a medical laboratory as a male girl and I.

[03:52] CANDI LORDO: Had been accepted to X ray school at a local hospital, but still had to work my way through school. Basically two full time job. We continued our friendship and when it was close for me to take my final exams for X ray, Franny came over one night and announced I was going to pass the test come hell or high water. And she was going to help me.

[04:12] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Really all I did, I asked her questions about Bones, where they were located, what they did, and that there was no partying until after we were finished with the studying. Once you finished radiology school, what was your next adventure, Candi

[04:28] CANDI LORDO: Well, since there weren't very many jobs in Kansas City, I was off to Wyoming. I waited until I was halfway across Nebraska to open up my envelope to see if I'd pass my exam. Because I knew if I hadn't passed, I would have never gone anywhere. So Franny, tell them what you did that first month I moved away to Wyoming.

[04:47] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, I convinced two other girls to take a road trip. So three 19 year old girls in a blue Toyota. We drove 17 hours to Casper, Wyoming. We picked you up.

[04:59] CANDI LORDO: Yep.

[05:00] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Then we went camping in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Had a great time. Camping and visiting the Million Dollar Cowboy.

[05:06] CANDI LORDO: Bar and the saddles at the bar.

[05:09] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: That's true.

[05:10] CANDI LORDO: So Franny, after all the fun we've had, you were the lucky one. And you got Mary a really great guy.

[05:17] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, that's true. He was the best kept secret I had. I didn't want him to hear all the stories about me Until I thought he was madly in love with me. Candi why do you think we've been friends for so long?

[05:33] CANDI LORDO: Well, because, Franny, you've always been there, even when I wasn't. We can always talk and laugh, no matter the situation. I guess she's made me feel very comfortable and never alone. Why do you think we have been friends for this long?

[05:49] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: I think we always told each other the truth, good or bad. We always supported the other's decision even if we didn't agree with them at all. We never tried to judge each other and we kept each other's secrets.

[06:03] CANDI LORDO: Yes, we always kept each other's secrets to this day.

[06:07] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: So what do you think is the thing that I helped you with most.

[06:14] CANDI LORDO: Besides making sure I passed my X ray test?

[06:17] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Yes.

[06:17] CANDI LORDO: You were always there as my friend. Always.

[06:21] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, the time that I remember the most is when I could drive to your house down in the Ozarks and have a girls weekend. Because having full time job, two kids and married was very stressful sometimes, especially with teenagers. So I really relished the time off.

[06:39] CANDI LORDO: And it really didn't make any difference what we were doing. We could just sit on the porch and have fun and that's the way you should be with your friends. Just have the best laugh because she does.

[06:51] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Might not be the best, but I know it's the loudest I have. People go, oh, I know that laugh. Where's that girl at?

[06:58] CANDI LORDO: So now that we're 50 years into this, did you ever think we'd be friends this long when we met?

[07:03] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, as you know and you do, we've had friendships come and go throughout our lives and we've seen friendships dry up and blow away. But that is because both the parties really didn't want to work on the friendship. It takes two. Like all relationships, you have to work at it. I remember one time we didn't talk for almost a year. But for the life of me, I really don't remember why.

[07:27] CANDI LORDO: But I do remember the day you came by my house over on Jackson when I was going to school and said, this is it, we're friends, so let's move on.

[07:34] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: I did. I visited Candi at every place she's ever lived. She has always been a. Wait, let me flip my page. She's always been a part of my family. My youngest daughter Sammy came to me when she was 13 years old and said, is aunt Candi really my aunt? I said, well, is she my sister? And Sammy said no. But I responded that blood does not make a family and we are so lucky to have a friend that is always there in the good and bad times. I've always admired Candi for the path she has taken in life. No self pity, just determined to make her life all it could be.

[08:17] CANDI LORDO: I remember once when I was traveling for business and I had thought I'd surprise Franny Unbeknownst to me, she was having a really tough day. It was her mom's birthday, the first one after she had just passed away.

[08:30] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Yep.

[08:31] CANDI LORDO: And Franny was just having a tough day. And she turned and looked at me and she goes, how did you do it when you lost your mom? And I said, it's because I had you as a friend. And that's why we call it the 50th friendiversary.

[08:43] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: That's right. And I just want to thank you for setting all this up because, you know, I never would have done all this.

[08:49] CANDI LORDO: Well, you know me, if it's odd and unusual, I'll do it. And that's where we're at.

[08:55] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Well, Reese says you took a road trip and we did the southwest. And we said, we said, well, let's do this in another 10 years. And then we got to thinking, oops, we'll be 75.

[09:08] CANDI LORDO: Yeah. So maybe we should do it five.

[09:10] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Yeah. A little shorter. So anybody out there is lucky enough to have at least one good friend in your life. You think you have a lot of friends, but you really don't.

[09:22] CANDI LORDO: Just remember, friends aren't a necessity, they're a luxury. And you need to treat them as such.

[09:28] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: There you go, girl. Love it. That's it.

[09:32] CANDI LORDO: Thank you.

[09:33] FRANNY HALL PASBACH: Thank you for listening.