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Archiver > ARIZARD > 2008-07 > 1215012675


From: "June Ramsey" <>
Subject: Re: [ARIZARD] off subject (Junebug)
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 10:36:00 -0500
References: <997121.49990.qm@web83817.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>


Thanks peggy. Enjoyed your letter, brings back old times. 1937 was the year
both my brothers got married. being b. 1915, and 1918. i didn't come along
untill 1929. must have been one of those change of life babies.Ha! The boy's
were gone when i was real young so grew up by my self. I think about all the
families in the 30's had a rought time dad farmed , worked on railroad, on
the WPA, and walked 4 mi each way to catch his ride. From Lower Twin creek
to Upper Twin Creek at hwy # 9 between Sylamore and Melbourne. I had to help
mom do the chores mornings before school and in the evening after school. as
dad left before day light and got home after dark Had to carry a lanter both
ways.
here i go getting wound up. Love Ya!! June



----- Original Message -----
From: "PEGGY TRUESDELL" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:12 AM
Subject: Re: [ARIZARD] off subject (Junebug)


> Hi, Lady! Thanks for writing me. Cataract surgery is very low risk
nowadays. I've kept up with your messages and am glad you've done so well,
in spite of those drops.
>
> My mother gave birth to me when she was 40 and my father was 43 (I was
the last one, for sure!) I slept with Mama and Daddy until I was six, and
believe it was for birth control. <smile> Back to cataracts. My father's
became a problem soon after I was born. For years, he could only see forms,
not features, so probably didn't know how cute I was! He had cataract
surgery when I was about eight -- on the first eye. The other had to
"ripen" and was done short time later.
>
> His doctor was Charles G. STUARD from Mississippi. He was a hero to our
family and he attended my father's funeral in 1977. Many other family
members (aunts, uncles, etc.) went to him over the years.
>
> His surgery was done at Saint John's hospital at 21st & Utica in Tulsa.
My mother saw that I visited him (hospitalized few days) as she wanted me to
have experience of what hospital was like. So like her, she was always
teaching. It was an experience, as I had never seen Catholic nuns, who were
all over the hospital. And oh, the statues displayed in the hallways. They
were so life-like. AND, they're still there, because I've seen them many
times. My three children were born there in the 60s and I saw them then.
And have seen them on visits to people hospitalized. There is one that no
matter which way you approach it, the eyes are fixed on you.
>
>
> They replaced lens in Daddy's eyes with thick glasses, and peripheral
vision was lost. This resulted in a tractor accident a few years later. He
was plowing, came to end of row, and when he made his turn, wheel at edge of
creek bank and tractor fell down bank into the creek. This was at back of
our property and was lower. You could go past our barn a ways and see all
over the back. Besides that, you could hear the tractor noise, running back
and forth although a good half mile away.
>
> It was in March and not too much water in creek. He managed to pull
himself over to the bank, and began to call for help. The three dogs with
him were excited and every time he yelled, they barked. He got them to come
near him, and quieted them. The lady from across the road, Veda KNOCHE, was
visiting my mother. She was leaving and my mother followed her outside.
She heard a noise and said, "Something must be in my chickens." So she went
toward chicken houses, with Veda following her. When she saw chickens were
okay, but still heard "something" she realized she didn't hear the tractor.
She went to investigate, with Veda still following. Then, she didn't see or
hear the tractor, but heard him more clearly calling for help. She told
Veda to call for help, so she called an ambulance. My mother found him.
His pelvis was broken and lung punctured. The ambulance took him to Broken
Arrow hospital on Main Street, where he remained for some time.
>
> The dogs missed him so much. When he finally was brought home by
ambulance and in a hospital bed in the house, they would be so excited when
they heard his voice through the window. We never had dogs in the house,
but we brought them in to see him when he came home.
>
> Our school bus was about half mile away from our house when we met the
ambulance taking him to hospital. Veda met me when I got off bus to tell
me, as my mother had gone with him in ambulance to hospital. I was
thirteen, and this was about only time in my life when I didn't talk --
because I was numbed and could hardly speak for several weeks. I would
leave school and walk almost a mile from junior high to see him, until time
for bus to be at elementary school on Main Street, where I caught it to go
home.
>
> So this is only part of the story of how cataracts impacted our family's
life. One of my father's brothers came to help me and my mother. One of my
cousin's husbands came to help. We didn't plant crops that year, a severe
loss for us. We had livestock to care for, cows to milk. It was a
difficult time.
>
> Through the years, I would see Dr. STUARD for examinations. He told me
that being exposed to sun hastened development of cataracts -- and to always
wear sunglasses when outside -- which I've always done. When my daughter
was about seven, they sent a note from school saying she was having
difficulty seeing the blackboard. I took her to Dr. STUARD and remained in
waiting room while he examined her, so maybe had only a glance of me. Even
though I was married and he wouldn't have known name, he obviously
recognized me. His first words, "This doesn't run in your family." She was
nearsighted. He could say that because he had seen so many of my family
members.
>
> We were produce farmers, had acres planted of everything -- tomatoes,
berries, popcorn, sweet potatoes, all varieties of peas, beans, cucumbers,
watermelons, cantaloupes, sweet peppers, hot peppers. Just everything. My
dad had a produce stand at Admiral & Memorial in Tulsa -- and we hauled
produce every day to Trenton Market in Tulsa, where most of it was sold on
consignment. We had dewberries and blackberries, long rows of them. My
father could grow most anything, but we had good sandy loam soil. When I
came to Texas, and tried to shovel around the front of my apartment, I began
to sing, "Take me back to Tulsa." You can hardly dig here because of
outcropping. All of us worked very hard. I have said we made our money
sometimes a quarter at a time.
>
> Hopefully, I can write about how we lived. No one -- anywhere -- lives
like that now. Our life was so different, no car insurance, no health
insurance -- lot less responsibility in some ways. My parents didn't buy on
credit. I asked my mother about the Depression, what affect did it have on
our family. She said they hardly noticed it. They acquired more land
during the Depression. However, Daddy always remarked that the Depression
ended the year I was born -- 1937!
>
> Have a great day, June. My beloved sister was a June. Billie June who
died on Valentine's Day in 1993, two days before our mother. She was twelve
when I was born and was my surrogate mother. We were always close. We saw
people in the same way, she would say after some our long visits.
>
> Peggy
>
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