When
Mom’s Dad passed away in 1936, her baby brother, James Van Day (Jay for
short) was just six months old. His mother was nursing him, and as babies can
do, he was picking up on the stress and sadness his mother was
experiencing. Therefore, she was also
dealing with one very cranky baby. In Mom’s
words, “He cried a lot.” Finally, someone
fixed a bottle for Jay and her Uncle Velve Heggie held him and fed him. He took the bottle like he was very hungry
and finally slept.
We
moved from Raymond to Rosemary in the spring of 1945. In November of that same year, then nine-year-old,
Jay took very ill. His mother took him
to the new hospital that had been built in Taber. The doctor was not sure what was wrong. He sent specimens from his throat and lungs
to the laboratory in Lethbridge. Mom’s
family in Taber sent word that Jay was ill, and Mom and Dad immediately packed
us all up and we went to Taber.
A few
days later, Jay passed away. It was
Armistice Day, 11 November 1955.
Later
that Day, Mom’s sister, Aunt Verna, gave birth to her third child, Bonnie
Rae. Can you imagine the mixed emotions
she was experiencing?
The
throat and lung cultures came back indicating Jay had diphtheria. The whole family was quarantined.
They
were not allowed to have a funeral, just a graveside service. The day Jay died, there was a Chinook wind
blowing, but the day he was buried, it was thirty degrees below zero. (And that
was in the days when it was still Fahrenheit degrees.)
Rosemary
was a long ways from Raymond and Taber, where most of our relatives lived but
we did keep in touch and visited back and forth and there were happier times
when we could get together. I remember
when Aunt Verna and Uncle Clarence, Aunt Lenor and Uncle Joe, and Grandma came
to visit in Rosemary.
Marvelle
and I had such fun playing with our cousins and could not wait until we could
visit again.
Uncle Clarence with Lester Ann on his knee
and Louiene.
Marvelle and Louiene on the tricycle and Arliss giving Lester Ann
a ride in the wagon.
