ramblings

I left off my last blog about the flavored straws.  They were great.  I have a "taste  memory" of them as I write this.  Isn't it amazing how we can taste foods in our memories and I can smell To a Wild Rose Powder sachet by Avon my Grandma Rose would put in her bra.  I sure wish they made that fragrance again.  Shriners was a leader in children's orthopedic so they did a lot of teaching.  Besides Xrays they had a photo studio set up and I remember being in a room with my gown tied up to show my hips and had photos taken of my different leg  lengths.  I thought that was fun.  My best friend in Shriners was a girl named Debbie.  She had one hand and used a hook for her other hand.  We had a lot of fun.  One time when I was about 5 1/2 I decided I didn't like the food.  When children had  surgery, a sign was placed on their bed that said No Food By Mouth.  I thought that was a good idea so I placed my own sign on my bed.  I got hungry after a while of missing dinner and took the sign down and they fed me.  I guess I was practicing to be a clown at that time.  The third and last time I was in Shriners was when I was 7.  I was flat on my back or side for several weeks even for eating.  It was hard when kids played ball and I would sit up to catch a ball and the nurse caught me and told me to lay back down.  One time we had a flu epidemic and 2 wards were quarantined so it was 3 weeks we could not see my mom.  We were allowed 2 visitors for 2 hours a week on Sunday afternoon. Grandma Rose visited me a lot.I loved the special guests who came to entertain us.  One group came at Easter and sang Easter Parade and Dry Bones.  We got great presents and baskets.  Clarabell the Clown came and that was a treat.  I could go on and on about Shriners but will say there were good and bad times I remember as a five to seven year old.  The last time I went home my family had moved so I was introduced to a new house.  I changed school to Elias Michael School for the handicapped.  I was picked up by a bus and went to school in a wheelchair.  I had swim therapy for PE.  It was a lot of fun but only lasted a semester because of what happened next. My church had an all night prayer service for my healing.  In about 1957 my mom took me to the clinic for a checkup and the doctor took Xrays and told me to put down my crutches just like in the Bible.  He could find no trace of the Legg Perthes. I suffer back issues from being bent over on crutches for my growing years and arthritis but they are just a reminder of God's grace.  Until next time....

Shriners Hospital Memories

I remember.....When I was 5 my mom realized I was limping badly.  She decided to see if I was "putting on" so she went quickly across the busy Gravois street.  I could not keep up and dropped to the ground in the middle of the street.  Grandma Rose took me to her orthopedic doctor, Dr. Shott.  He took Xrays and found I had Legg Perthes Disease when part of the hip socket dies because of no circulation.  I got special shoes (saddle ozfords) with a ring on the sole on the back of the shoe.  I was fitted for a sling that went over my shoulder with a hook that attatched to my shoe ring making me walk only on my left leg and using crutches. A friend of my step father, Bob Novotny, was a shriner and got me into the Shriner's Clinic in St. Louis.  It was then located on Euclid near Forest Park.  After a whole day having Xrays they decided I should be admitted.  Now this was in the 50's so hospital routines were so different.  They took me away from my mom while I was screaming and took me to the ward.  I remember that there were babies also being admitter and they were in cribs like cages which covered the top with bars also.  I tried to reason with the nurses that we were having company at home and I was needed to help cook (mind you, I was 5 years old)  We all received a large bag of toys that was ours to keep and we had to wear starched dresses like house dresses with G-strings for underwear.  I was put in tractions which was having my legs taped with a board covering my feet and a pulley going from my feet to 20 pounds of sand hanging from each.  I was bedbound for 2 months like this.  I remember that milk made me sick but you had to drink milk for calcium.  If I didn't drink my milk I was put in isolation which was a glassed enclosed room smaller than a bathroom.  I would cry and no one heard me.  My mom started to bring me straws with flavor pellets in them.  That's where I'll stop for now and continue another time.  mom

sharing begins

I have entered the blogging world !!!!  I wanted to share stories from my past for my grandchildren to read and remember.  My life was full of love and disappointments, faith and fun.  No matter what happened in my life God was with me every step of the way. I will try to post at least once a week but don't hold me to that.  Here we go.....  The earliest memory I have was when I was about 3.  My mom had waist length hair and my sister and I would stand on the bed and brush her hair.  She would go out on a date in a black sequined dress.  We had 2 older ladies who would babysit us. Mrs. Kreinhedder took care of me during the day and she introduced me to Sanka coffee and cottage cheese with sugar on it.  I remember her putting coal in her furnace and I also remember the alley pit she put her trash in.  I played with her next door neighbor who was mentally handicapped.  She had a huge metal doll house which I loved.  My other babysitter was Mrs. Kottenburger.  She lived down the street.  Mom, my sister (who was 2 1/2 years older than me) and I did a lot of fun things for Christmas gifts.  I remember especially the snow globes.  One year for Halloween we bought a giant pumpkin---over 2 feet tall.  I think we ate pumpkin pies for a year.  I will stop writing now and write more later.  mom