Kathy Corless and Len Corless

[00:01] KATHY CORLISS: Hi, my name is Kathy Corliss. I'm age 49, and today I'm here is Saturday, August 27, 2022. We're in Boise, Idaho, and I'm sitting here with my husband, Len Corliss.

[00:17] LEN CORLISS: And, hi, my name is Len Corliss. As my wonderful wife introduced, I am 53. Today is also Saturday, August the 27th of 2022. Both of us born and raised right here in Boise, Idaho. So.

[00:36] KATHY CORLISS: So we thought we'd talk today a little bit just about love, life and changing events.

[00:42] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[00:44] KATHY CORLISS: We reconnected when, out of the blue, one of my best friends from high school called me and said, hey, our friend is having kind of a reunion of sorts at his house, a party. Would you like to come over? And I don't think I'd seen her in ten years, but it sounded nice, so took that leap. I think it was that evening. And while I was there, lo and.

[01:13] LEN CORLISS: Behold, she walks through the door, and I see Len.

[01:17] KATHY CORLISS: And Len and I have a little bit of a history.

[01:19] LEN CORLISS: Yes. So we talked and talked and talked some more, and.

[01:26] KATHY CORLISS: And at the end of the night, my friend says, hey, we're taking pictures. And when we put our arms around each other for the picture, that's when the sparks really connected.

[01:35] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[01:36] KATHY CORLISS: And definitely, definitely felt a connection. Like, I don't know why I'm feeling this connection here, but there is something here. There's something greater here.

[01:46] LEN CORLISS: Yes. Yes. We're both in different stages of our life where my wife was going through a divorce. I had already been divorced and had pretty much decided, yeah, losing everything once I'm done. But, like Kathy said, the spark and both of us talking about it even just weeks later, of just how connected we felt. And comfortable. We felt comfortable because, you know, like, we had both been married prior, and, oh, this is what it feels like to find your soulmate, life partner, but, you know, overall, the person you love and want to spend all your time with.

[02:38] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. So, back in our younger years and high school years, Lynn and I both went to Bora High School, and his best friend and my best friend were brother and sisters. We'll call them the charter clan. Scotty, Amy. Ricky.

[02:55] LEN CORLISS: Tommy.

[02:56] KATHY CORLISS: Ricky, Tommy. So it was nice. We kind of ran in circles. So we knew each other in high school. We hung out, you know, even later in life. We both ended up working at Micron.

[03:09] LEN CORLISS: Well, first was HP.

[03:11] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah.

[03:12] LEN CORLISS: You were working nights, and this was something we had discovered just in conversation. Not that we had ran into each other, but we were both working nights doing different things. But during those times, of our life. We were at that facility at the.

[03:28] KATHY CORLISS: Same time, and that's what we talk about, is there's a lot of places we were growing up together that I'm. So we were there at the same time, but we didn't know. At HP, we didn't know one another. Sheila Packard had a big plant here at the time. A lot of people in Boise worked for Hewlett Packard. And then, of course, as Micron technology took off, then it kind of became, I guess, the new HP and a lot of people. But we knew each other there would literally run into each other.

[03:56] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. Cause at that time, you had just started. No, you'd been there for a couple years, but you were still in the, um, distribution.

[04:05] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah, I was building 17.

[04:10] LEN CORLISS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I was a contractor at that time, and you were an employee. Contractors made more money. Um, true. But, uh, yeah, it was just a chance run in. I had to pick up parts, and here she was at the counter. I'm like, yeah.

[04:30] KATHY CORLISS: So it's just. It's so fun to think about the. You know, I think about these dots throughout Boise and the interconnection. You know, when we were young, some of the biggest places, and Boise wasn't that big, I want to say, maybe population wise, 75,000 ish bora pool was really huge, and we both were there. Skateland. We loved our skating, roller skating back in the day. And, you know, we talk about. We both, just, as kids, had this love for biking. I mean, you know, without cell phones, you know, cable was just barely coming online, and no computers. You were just out a lot. And we both not together, but we just had a love of biking.

[05:08] LEN CORLISS: Bicycling was definitely been our path from kids till now. I mean, it's. It's one of those that. Yeah, you talk about connecting dots. I mean, our dots are all over the town. All over this town.

[05:25] KATHY CORLISS: So then as we started heading back after this party, we connected and started dating again. And I don't think. I think both of us were. Just got a little bit, see where this goes as adults. And then we had a serious situation come up.

[05:42] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[05:42] KATHY CORLISS: And we met at a place we both love. It's a little diner in town called chef's hut. Really good little greasy spoon, hole in the wall.

[05:53] LEN CORLISS: They've been around for, well, my entire life. It's change hands. Owner had passed. Daughter runs it now, but still great.

[06:02] KATHY CORLISS: Anywho, so we were talking there, and I look at him, and I said, I'm late.

[06:09] LEN CORLISS: And mind you, this is on a Sunday. And I was working for Costco on there. I did maintenance there. And I looked at her and looked at my watch, and I'm like, no, I'm not late. I got like, 2 hours to I gotta be, you know, to work, you know?

[06:27] KATHY CORLISS: I said, no, that's not it. I'm late. So then I crack this chance we could be pregnant.

[06:35] LEN CORLISS: So I get this big Cheshire cat smile on my face, which I don't know if it terrified her. Cause she was kind of expecting.

[06:43] KATHY CORLISS: I was.

[06:44] LEN CORLISS: You should be.

[06:45] KATHY CORLISS: I don't know.

[06:46] LEN CORLISS: I just started dating and you're in your early forties. You shouldn't be excited about this. Victor Jafari raised kids, and so go.

[07:00] KATHY CORLISS: Back to you call.

[07:01] LEN CORLISS: So I just. I just was like, I'm sick. I'm not gonna make it in today. And so we go out, we get one pregnancy test, came back positive, asked.

[07:12] KATHY CORLISS: Him to go buy another one, and.

[07:14] LEN CORLISS: That one came back positive. And then together we drove, kind of driving around, talking. So we stopped, we get a third one, come home back positive. So Sunday. So Monday, she gets ahold of her OBG sneak.

[07:30] KATHY CORLISS: Sneak from work into a conference room and say, I think I need to come in for a pregnancy test. They said, well, did you take one?

[07:37] LEN CORLISS: We took three.

[07:38] KATHY CORLISS: They're like, well, congratulations.

[07:40] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. Which is cool.

[07:43] KATHY CORLISS: Oh, it was so cool. We had a really great pregnancy together.

[07:47] LEN CORLISS: We really did.

[07:48] KATHY CORLISS: The Ben and Jerry's flew, you know, they became our two best friends.

[07:52] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[07:54] KATHY CORLISS: And, yeah, it was wonderful.

[07:58] LEN CORLISS: It really was. My father was super excited, you know, this actually being my very first child, I raised three stepchildren, who are wonderful. But my dad was just super excited. And then, of course, he turns to Kathy at one point of pregnancy, because we had already checked and we cheated. So we knew we were having a little girl. And we're kind of, you know, just in the name stage. My dad's like, you oughta name her Lacey. And I'm like, dad? And Kathy's like, oh, that's a good name. I'm like, no, you don't understand, honey. That's his dog's name. Little miniature dachshund. Who, unfortunately, a couple months later, he passed. And so we ended up with Lacey.

[09:00] KATHY CORLISS: And it was built like a Jimmy dean sauce.

[09:02] LEN CORLISS: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[09:04] KATHY CORLISS: She was cute, but she was proud. And I always had the big dogs, the Huskies, the german shepherd. I'm like, what do you do with this dog? You know, these little legs?

[09:14] LEN CORLISS: Well, and I can't. So when we met, I had a wonderful dog. Her name was baby dog. Um, and she was a Jack Russell. And, yes, she. She was. She was one of those dogs that if rather you're a dog lover or a cat lover, it's that one in a lifetime pet that you get the privilege of having in your life for 15 years. And so, yeah, because she was like, okay, I like baby. And then Lacey and, yeah, of course, now we have a terrier and toxin. But as getting off track, one of the things that came to mind after my father's passing, we were. I was an only child, and my parents were divorced, but they were best friends. My mother was his caregiver. So the house and everything went to us.

[10:11] KATHY CORLISS: And.

[10:11] LEN CORLISS: And so as we. We had to do, the house had built in 68, so we had to do a little up upgrades, but we're in the backyard. Kathy was still carrying our baby girl. And I'll circle back to that, because that's a fun story of how we got to the name. But we were over by the peach tree, and you turned to me and you said, first time over here. I imagined us living here, but I couldn't figure out why.

[10:44] KATHY CORLISS: I still remember that. I remember coming to the back patio. I could tell you where all the furniture was and what it looked like, and your dad was sitting under the tree, and Lacy was there and meeting him for the first time. And I just had this feeling that we were gonna live there and we were gonna be there, but I couldn't figure out why your dad was so, you know, he was so young and healthy. I'm like, I can't see how this would ever be possible.

[11:04] LEN CORLISS: But, yeah, because he was 74.

[11:08] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah.

[11:08] LEN CORLISS: So, yeah.

[11:09] KATHY CORLISS: And he was so fun, and so he's just the, you know, salt of the earth prankster. Prankster. Good jokes. None we can share on the air.

[11:20] LEN CORLISS: Except for she can tell you one.

[11:22] KATHY CORLISS: Well, we had this really great Easter, and his dad was there. My dad was there. You know, I actually come from. Yeah, very pregnant is in April, and I. We're due in June, and I come from nine siblings, or eight siblings on the 9th. We didn't all go raised together. I really was raised with three other sisters, and my sister Becky was there, and her son Taylor and I have a son, Sebastian, for my first marriage, so we had shared custody. So him and Lynn, I mean, pretty much his dad, too, now, and got to know each other. So we're all over at this rental house having Easter dinner, and it was super fun. And Len went to go get. We had a little bouncer for the little kids. And his dad says, leans over to me, he's like, hey, you want to hear a gross story? I'm like, no, I don't. Did you say ghost story? I like ghost story. It's like a ghost story. He's like, no, I got a gross story. Unfortunately, I don't even remember what it was.

[12:25] LEN CORLISS: Yeah, yeah. It was just the. So would you like to hear a gross story? And that's always been the running joke. And. No, no. A ghost story.

[12:35] KATHY CORLISS: But my dad was there, and he was, gosh, 90.

[12:40] LEN CORLISS: No, not yet. No.

[12:41] KATHY CORLISS: 91. 91.

[12:43] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[12:45] KATHY CORLISS: And he told me later he got such a kick out of Len and his dad because his dad was. Yeah, good ribbing. His dad was sitting by the sliding glass door, letting kids in and out. And so the kid was knocking on the door, and one's like, hey, open that door. It's the most work you've done all year. So they all got along. My sister, we did an Easter egg hunt. My nephew Taylor, he got the golden egg. So we got this cute picture of his mom and him holding the golden egg behind the jumper. In fact, I just saw this picture two days ago, and, of course, my son was just all upset for not finding it. It was supposed to be mine, and it was just, you know, as we reflect back, we've had. It was. It was kind of a challenging year after his dad passed away in April, soon after, my dad got really sick and needed to go into long term care, hospice care. And that was a challenge. You know, he lived, you know, I mean, for him, he was so accepting. I was shaking, scared, telling him, you need more care. And I don't even know how to have this conversation. And one came with me for support, and he was ready, and he knew, and we would go see him every day. He was at the vA. He was a world war two vet, and he just kind of held on till we had Katie.

[14:09] LEN CORLISS: That's what all the nurses said. And he held on because we had Katie. And she spent her first three weeks there about 2 hours a day every day until his passing.

[14:22] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. And she was born on June 19 19th, and he passed away that July 8. And, you know, I think when I think about love and bonds, I think about all this that we went through, and, you know, how do you know if your marriage is going to stand a test of time, go through some pretty heavy, big life changes and see how you are with what, you know, when those happen and you can get through them and you can be so supportive of one another and you know, that you never could have got through that event without one, you know. You know, you got that partner for life.

[14:58] LEN CORLISS: Well, and a lot of it. I mean, I was quite happy not, you know. You know, Kathy had a very prestigious job. I guess she. Well, you did a lot of work and had a lot of stuff overseas and she was known for her last name. And we hadn't even really. It had been that intense. We hadn't even really talked about, you know, getting married, you know. And, you know, we had Katie. Oh, okay. So before we. I gotta tell the story of how we came up with Katie. So first we were gonna name her Vivian after my aunt. There's a certain movie that I can't mention but she portrayed a prostitute and my wife brought that up. And I'm like, you know, yeah, that's, you know, and nothing about. Nothing bad about the Vivians out there. And.

[15:57] KATHY CORLISS: And my mom has passed away, who I love dearly. And. But her first name was Vera.

[16:02] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[16:03] KATHY CORLISS: And my grandma was a Verna. And these didn't seem like very modern names for today that we'd be comfortable with.

[16:10] LEN CORLISS: Exactly. So. So mind you, we had been going back and forth for probably about six weeks before she was born. And finally, Kathy. We're spending our normal evening in the couch watching tv with Ben and Jerry's, of course. And she mouths off, being smarty, like she can do a lot. Me too. But she goes, well, why don't we just name her Kathy Juniore?

[16:40] KATHY CORLISS: Well, this came about because, you know, as you talk about getting married the female takes on the man's name. And my first born, our son Sebastian, looks a lot like his dad. So it's like, not only he's got the last name, he looked like your dad. Where does the mom come in? And so we talked about that. And I worked at Micron and I went overseas and I talked to people a lot from Singapore and Japan, which was really a lot of fun. And a gal I spoke with from Singapore at least weekly, if not twice a week. And she always called me Katie. You know, Katie because it was just Kathy, I think was just difficult. And it just got to a point where I'm just. I'm rolling with it now. And. And that's what we decided for.

[17:24] LEN CORLISS: Yeah, she's Katie Corliss obviously. We share our. Our life stories together every night and. Yeah. So that's when I was like, okay, fine, we'll call her Katie. And that stuck. And she is as sweet as she.

[17:41] KATHY CORLISS: Looks like her dad. And it's kind of sweet. Yeah.

[17:47] LEN CORLISS: And here's what used to come out of her mouth earlier. A lot. Now it's just casual. I have beautiful kids, but they all look like they're dead. But no, she's got both of us in her for sure.

[18:06] KATHY CORLISS: And she's, you know, I think of, you know, our son Sebastian. He is just like the moon. He changes. He goes through these changes, but he's there every night and he's just. He's a force onto the earth. I feel. And I feel like our daughter. She is the sun. She is a ray of sunshine. All her teachers, all her friends, she's so unique. You know, when we had Katie, as all parents have to go through, what are we. How are we going to raise? Are we going to do some daycare? Do we have family? You know, we didn't have that family that would be able to help us with the daycare.

[18:42] LEN CORLISS: We're running out of family. They were passing, and so we thought.

[18:47] KATHY CORLISS: A lot about it and we made the decisions for Len to leave his job and for him to be at home and stay at home with Katie and be the dad. And honestly, I think, as, you know, if I reflect back as a parenting, I think he was much better suited for that role than I would be. And they tie. I mean, they mowed the lawn together. He modified his lawnmower riding lawn mower around an acre with a Harley Davidson seat.

[19:19] LEN CORLISS: So you had two to sit. I'd sit on the back. She'd sit on the front when she.

[19:23] KATHY CORLISS: Was younger, and she'd have her little earphones on to protect her hearing.

[19:28] LEN CORLISS: Her ear mu. Her ear mugs.

[19:30] KATHY CORLISS: Ear mugs.

[19:31] LEN CORLISS: And she's ear mugs sweetly, too. Today she still calls them ear mugs.

[19:38] KATHY CORLISS: You can't correct that. They're ear mugs.

[19:41] LEN CORLISS: We even call them ear mugs.

[19:44] KATHY CORLISS: Oh, yeah. So they. I mean, she's a little mini me running around in overalls. And they just had a really great time. You always pick up Sebastian from school.

[19:54] LEN CORLISS: There's like, we had one of the cutest times. I wouldn't, you know, having both our children in our lives, I wouldn't imagine not having him there. But early on, being in Sebastian's life, being his dad, I had this cutest voicemail from him because Kathy would drop him off at daycare, and then I was using a position where I could pick him up from daycare.

[20:24] KATHY CORLISS: This is why you're working before we had Katie. Yeah. Yeah.

[20:27] LEN CORLISS: That's why I was working before, but so I get the little kid's voice he's like, oh gosh, how to go, hi, dad, can you come by and pick me up in the big twuck? And then I hear Kathy in the background. Love you. And it was the most sweetest thing. And unfortunately that was, that was lost between carriers. But it's always a very wonderful message and he's been, he, I'm so proud of him.

[21:00] KATHY CORLISS: Um, the senior in high school.

[21:02] LEN CORLISS: Senior in high school.

[21:04] KATHY CORLISS: And you came into your life when he was five.

[21:06] LEN CORLISS: He was five, yeah. And our kids are five, five years apart, exact ish. And I, he's actually May 6, my birthday is May 8 and then Katie's birthday is June 19. So it's good. But he's a percussionist, amongst other things. He reads music, can play anything. But I'm very proud of. We were early, early on, um, because we're trying to figure out as he was going into junior high what would you like to play? And we end up watching this movie. Um, uh, that, uh, it was kind of a little mini series and one, no, you can't say that because they.

[21:56] KATHY CORLISS: I won't sing the intro song. We're okay.

[21:58] LEN CORLISS: Okay. Okay. So it was freaks and geeks. Um, so one of the characters played drums. I, well, he's like drums. So Kathy, as she does, does her due diligence, goes through everybody and anybody. We end up getting probably the, in our opinion, the most talented percussion. Pat Flaherty took them on. And mind you, this was the summer of, after 6th grade, just going into 7th grade. And so he went to west and Mister Rosenthal, who's still there today, awesome, awesome guy. So he went into band playing percussion and I remember we did, you know, you do the walk around, then you do the parent teacher conference and it was all held in the cafeteria and you just kind of went to your teacher and, and he, he's just got his head down, you know. Okay, who's your kid? You know, and 7th grade, 75 kids in there. And so we were like Sebastian Huntley. And he's, oh, he's, he's doing okay. And I said, oh, good. We were worried, you know, because he started so late, you know, he's only been playing for six weeks. His head looks up. Locked eyes. He's doing really good.

[23:34] KATHY CORLISS: Come to find out as a man who is very slim with compliments.

[23:38] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. Yeah.

[23:39] KATHY CORLISS: Because he thought he, like most kids, had been playing in fifth and 6th grade.

[23:43] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. So I mean, not only academically is he way smarter than me, but musically so talented and just warms my heart just over all the years I've been able to be there and makes it tough on both of us because, you know, where he's 17 and still doing awesome academically, has a great.

[24:09] KATHY CORLISS: Made it through the COVID year.

[24:11] LEN CORLISS: That was tough.

[24:12] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah, yeah. You know, really. And how well he's doing in drumming is a large part to you and you downplay that. But, you know, financially we're lucky enough to afford the lessons. But that would mean nothing if there wasn't somebody there to take. Take him to those lessons all the time. Even when his other dad wouldn't drive and make the drive, you would make the drive on his weeks. And we doubled up on our weeks and you could say it's what parents do, but not all parents can do. So I feel fortunate that if I feel like I could provide the financial means, you could provide the time. And it's really led into a passion of his that I think is going to be, may even be some of his guiding choice and, well, it's already.

[24:54] LEN CORLISS: Guided choice for senior year. But then we got to see the.

[24:58] KATHY CORLISS: Marching band last night.

[24:59] LEN CORLISS: Yes. Last with Bora High School in their brand new uniforms.

[25:04] KATHY CORLISS: Last year he marching band uniforms.

[25:06] LEN CORLISS: He's in 27 year old marching band uniforms.

[25:09] KATHY CORLISS: Think about that. 27 years of young teenagers sweating in his clothes. I can't imagine.

[25:18] LEN CORLISS: But what, you know, so my sister in law Linda, who's right, at my same age, we all went to Bora and she played in marching band. And literally she was in the last. It was like three more years where the marching band uniforms that Basham was in his first year of marching band. But I'm getting off a topic, so if you want to roll this back to others.

[25:49] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. You know, I keep reflecting back mentally to that Easter, you know, and because we had both our dads and my sister, and my sister at 51 passed away last October. And it hit us pretty hard.

[26:04] LEN CORLISS: Yep.

[26:06] KATHY CORLISS: But again, it's more those life events that, you know, it's not just. It's. I shouldn't even say event because it's. It's such an influence that stays with you in many different aspects. You miss them so much, but you learn, what can I do to honor them? She has a son that we keep our son. He's really our son we really keep close contact with. And it's really tough. Tough on him. I can't imagine. But I think it brings back, especially out of us coming all through this, Covid, knowing people who have passed away with COVID is, I think it put to the front of our minds is how precious life really is.

[26:53] LEN CORLISS: And time. What do you really want to schedule your time for?

[26:59] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah, what do you want to do? Do we want to worry about this? Do we want to stress about that? Or do we want to go just have our friends over? And we talk about this because it used to be like, oh, our house isn't clean enough and this isn't done. I should do laundry. And we're like, yeah, what I should have. But we're now celebrate one another.

[27:18] LEN CORLISS: Come on over. We're showered, clean clothes. We smell good. Don't bother with the house.

[27:24] KATHY CORLISS: We have food. Let's do it.

[27:26] LEN CORLISS: Let's do it.

[27:28] KATHY CORLISS: So really, those things that just have such a big impact on you to help saying it is life changing and you do start asking yourself those questions, what do I want to do? And what's my legacy? And you come around to always, I think, helping other people and being a resource for others, you know, as you try to do with your kids and family. So we've been able, after my sister passed away, I left my job. It's been the first time I haven't worked that 40. Well, most of them are 50, 60 hours week jobs. Right. And we've been lucky. I mean, we were just, and we realized it. We had such great times this winter. We'd put a log on the fire, grab our coffee. Kids are off at school and just get to enjoy one another. And it's been so much fun.

[28:21] LEN CORLISS: And this is a lot of what we do. What we're doing right now is just kind of remembrance talk about, we got to get that done, then we'll forget about it. We'll get something else on that, you know, oh, let's go back tomorrow. We'll get that done. But, yeah, definitely. Definitely. Well, it's funny because we used to say how blessed we are to have two businesses that do well, and our son got a. He's the awesome. He looks at Kathy and just goes, blessed. You guys worked your butts off to be where you're at.

[29:01] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah, growing up, we didn't.

[29:03] LEN CORLISS: Well, we didn't.

[29:04] KATHY CORLISS: My family didn't have much money. I mean, we were really.

[29:06] LEN CORLISS: We were both raised on powdered milk.

[29:11] KATHY CORLISS: Well, but there's a little difference, though. I mean, at times, I mean, my house, sometimes we didn't have electricity or running a car, and, you know, mom had to make those really tough choices. And, you know, it was a big influence to say, I know I don't want to be there. So. Worked really hard in high school to go to college, because I knew that was the way out. You had to be educated. That's what, at least that was ingrained.

[29:32] LEN CORLISS: In me, and that's what was ingrained in me.

[29:34] KATHY CORLISS: And we both worked really hard, and then we, you know, we got a little higher tolerance for risk. At one time. We just pulled the retirement. We purchased a couple of houses for rentals and crossed our fingers. We have really great friends.

[29:47] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[29:47] KATHY CORLISS: Pat and Jen Anderson, Bob and Paula Moreland, that came over and helped us paint and go through things. Then Boise hit a boom economy, and, you know, we got, you know, with part. There's a little luck there with that.

[30:00] LEN CORLISS: There's a lot of luck. A lot of luck. We.

[30:03] KATHY CORLISS: But our kids were there.

[30:05] LEN CORLISS: Our kids were with us.

[30:07] KATHY CORLISS: We had to move a tenant out, and they were right there cleaning the place out there with us.

[30:12] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. But it's, it's, once again, we've, we've, as my son would say, we've worked our butts off for where we're at, and that enables our kids not to have to experience what we experience as kids. I mean, there are some things we'd like, you know, we bicycle rides, you know, going to the Bora pool and all that, but, you know, we try to make it as good for them as possible without turning them into brats, without giving them everything.

[30:47] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. I mean, we're just really not in that position. But we've had, I mean, I think are great. So if I look back and say, hey, what would I want to do the most? What would I have the most fun is with our family and playing games. We're big game people playing uno or Xbox playing Spelunky. Spelunky or chicken horse or having friends going to pojos, which is an arcade place here in town that really, I mean, they keep it low cost for families to come in.

[31:16] LEN CORLISS: Well, and that's another one of those.

[31:17] KATHY CORLISS: Dots we were talking about two or three birthdays there.

[31:20] LEN CORLISS: Yeah, yeah, I've had two birthdays there, and I loved them both. Um, but that's one of those dots that we talk about that we went over, because pojos used to have a bunch of different locations, uh, in the eighties and, uh, the height of the arcade. Yeah, height of the arcade times. Um, and, yeah, we know we're, we know we were in the same spots and everything, but, you know, I guess one of the things, the biggest takeaway from, you know, our stories are, you know, shenanigans and everything is, you know, hold on to one another and, you know, just remember there's gonna be hard times, there's gonna be great times, there's gonna be extremely sad times, and there's gonna be times that, you know, you just need a little space from each other and to know your purse. You're the person you're with, the one you love, the one you love to spend time with, and the one that you don't mind spending a little time away making your plans and telling them.

[32:32] KATHY CORLISS: Let them open up and see and be individuals and.

[32:35] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[32:36] KATHY CORLISS: And, you know, making a lot of time for.

[32:39] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[32:39] KATHY CORLISS: I'll go back and say one of the best times was here in Idaho. They refer to it as Snowmageddon.

[32:45] LEN CORLISS: Oh, yes.

[32:47] KATHY CORLISS: And I can't tell you the year, but Len got a new truck six years ago. We got two new four wheel. Two new to us.

[32:55] LEN CORLISS: Well, new to us.

[32:56] KATHY CORLISS: Four old ones, and then a bunch of inner tubes. And on an acre, we hooked those inner tubes up to those four wheelers, drove the kids around in sleds, and, oh, my gosh, every day it had to be.

[33:09] LEN CORLISS: I don't know, all the time doing that. Dogs chasing behind kids, flying off. You know, all that safe stuff you do with kids, you know.

[33:17] KATHY CORLISS: But we've always KInd of had the kids house. I gotta think back to the. We've always had big halloween parties, and here's the BeST, one of my best favorite stories. Len has this old tractor that was my dad's. Yeah. And we borrow from our neighbor another trailer.

[33:32] LEN CORLISS: I had one trailer.

[33:33] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. So we could put hay bales and load kids up there. And my sister has a sasquatch costume, so she puts her husband in it in this way back in the back part of the field, and he's hiding. So as it's getting dusk, we got the kids in the back of the trailer, and we go past the trailer, goes past this area, and Sasquatch jumps out. The kids are. Then they turn to look at Len, the only adult, and he jumps off the trailer and starts running.

[34:06] LEN CORLISS: I'm running opposite of the kids, so the tractor's going behind me. Don't worry. I knew where it was going and it was going slow, but I run past them, and they're. First they're over Bigfoot, and then they're like, ah, where are you going?

[34:23] KATHY CORLISS: Oh, my God.

[34:23] LEN CORLISS: He's leaving, too. So. But, yeah, yeah, Joe and Linda Hess, they are the best. They are true pranksters and fun and pranksters. But they've. There. It's just that's. That's what. That's what being married in life should always be about, take the time, make the time. If you can't afford it. I'm not. I'm not one to say rat credit up, but there's only certain times you can take your kids to Disneyland and they want to go with you. And they'll want to go with you. Exactly.

[34:57] KATHY CORLISS: We've had wonderful times.

[34:58] LEN CORLISS: Yeah.

[35:00] KATHY CORLISS: Twice. Yeah.

[35:01] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. And at this point forward, it's. It's really good. You know, it's. It's changing for some. We're super proud. He's. He's just. He's been through camps this last summer for music and some pretty.

[35:24] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. Good camps. And he's gonna be changing as he's probably off to college. We dropped our daughter off at junior high this year, and she's been doing great. We've been. Since I've been off. She asked me to go to karate with her.

[35:37] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[35:38] KATHY CORLISS: So we've been doing karate together twice.

[35:41] LEN CORLISS: A week, which, I may add, she did that. And then when our daughter was in swimming, my wife was in a real strong summer, so she took swimming lessons. I was very proud of her. I've. I've always been a fish, so. Yeah, we swee swim together. We actually bought our daughter above ground pool for her birthday this year.

[36:05] KATHY CORLISS: Yeah. And the one we had during COVID was.

[36:07] LEN CORLISS: Oh, yeah.

[36:08] KATHY CORLISS: Really came in handy.

[36:09] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. But our kids push us.

[36:12] KATHY CORLISS: We learn from our kids, I guess.

[36:13] LEN CORLISS: Yes.

[36:14] KATHY CORLISS: I think we learn a lot from our kids, and hopefully they learn some from us.

[36:19] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. Yeah. Well, at least if one thing, our kids know we love them. Yeah. And that's. That's the most important thing. Even though yesterday, August 26, I had to take Katie's phone away from her.

[36:36] KATHY CORLISS: For a teenage girl cell phone from.

[36:40] LEN CORLISS: 05:00 until today at about eight, when I give back to her work, the world was ending. She even had a girlfriend spend the night. And it was like, my phone. Precious. Oh, precious.

[36:56] KATHY CORLISS: Parenting can be fun. Yeah.

[36:57] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. And, you know, I wish I was exaggerate. Exaggerating. But, Katie, when you listen to this and I'm gone and you're my age at 50 something, you'll appreciate this story. Your kids will appreciate it so much more. But overall, we love both our kids and we love our life together. And it was definitely something my side I never thought I would truly find or have.

[37:29] KATHY CORLISS: That's right. So when you're out there looking for that life partner, take your time.

[37:35] LEN CORLISS: Take your time and. And just, you know, be patient. And if. If it doesn't work, don't make it not work. Don't. Don't get mad. When you're mad, walk away before you say something.

[37:53] KATHY CORLISS: Wise words. Right? Be patient with one another.

[37:56] LEN CORLISS: Yeah. Always be honest. Always. Love. Yeah.

[38:00] KATHY CORLISS: I think that's great to end on. Love you.

[38:03] LEN CORLISS: I love you, too. Now do we talk about. Okay. It's an inside joke. If you're wondering what I was gonna say.