The FARM BOY that walked many paths.

Three weeks before this day I was wakened up after 10PM in the evening and my memory is very vivid now and very sad too. I was told I was wakened up. I do remember the rest of the evening. There were several of the neighbors in our house and it was after my bedtime so it was after 10PM by now. Mother was in tears. A side note for that era was that the telephone lines where party phone lines. When some one called to another place the ring was heard at every house on that line. Each house had a certain ring sound. I believe the number at our home was Walnut 152 which meant a short ring, a long ring and two short rings. Grandma Larson’s number was Walnut 30 which was three short rings. Mother had called the operator and that was one long ring. The late night calls were very rare so when Mother rang that one long ring the neighbors were concerned and all went to their telephone and pick up the receiver to hear if anything was going wrong. What they heard was Mother asking for an ambulance because dad was very sick. The neighbors that heard this and all being friends, and concerned, drove over to our house to see if they could help mother. Everybody new each other rings and would know who the call was for. Mother having dialed the operator so late had the neighbors thinking someone needed help.

I still did not know what was totally going on but shortly the ambulance arrived. They backed up to the back door which was our usual door and they couldn’t get there gurney in through the entry. They drove around the house and backed up to our front door which had no entry and came in with there stretcher. They help dad unto this stretcher and put him the ambulance. I can’t remember who all were there but I think I was told Arnold and Hazel Strand where there. Grandma Larson and Kenny came too. Grandma Larson stayed with us that night, me age 6, Sherlynn age 4 and Eileen age 2. Mother went with the ambulance to the hospital with dad. I don’t remember much of the next few days other than I couldn’t find out anything or get permission to go see dad.

The year before Mother had been hospitalized for nine months or more in Sister Kenny in Minneapolis with a disease called polio. She had to be put into an Iron Lung. I remember because of the polio epidemic and mother having polio I had to go through a series of medicines handed out at the school. I also had to go to Minneapolis to have some more of the polio medicines. I remember the big rooms and waiting but not much more.

Blog by Conrad larson ; www.loveforbookwritng.com ; www.myovercoat.com ; twitter - Boomertweet , This is page 2 of a series of blogs 7/19/09