I think I’ll just muse a little bit tonight. I’ve been in Tyler with Kip all day, and now it’s almost eight o’clock and my brain isn’t working with me here.

Has anyone ever said to you…”You are wearing me out?” Needy people can wear you out. Troubled kids can wear you out, demanding employers can be added to the list. I discovered something about myself today. I wear myself out. It’s not that easy keeping up with me and all the things I want to do, while avoiding the things I have to do, like wash clothes and clean house.

It hit me hard today. I walked into this outpatient heart clinic where Kip was scheduled for a treadmill test and a nuclear heart scan that we were told would take 2-3 hours. The clinic has a huge waiting area. I struggled to a chair with my purse, Yeti cup, my book, my hotspot, (which didn’t work in there), my tablet and a power cord. It was all futile, because I couldn’t get service of any kind in the building. I had to sit there without being able to accomplish anything.

First, I ate the peanut butter crackers that we brought for Kip’s snack. They told him not to eat until after the test, but in the middle of everything, he could have a light snack. Thankfully, there was a Dollar General close to the clinic, so I could get more crackers before he came out for his snack.

Then I decided to read my book. The one I wrote. I started it last night and I’m almost finished. I discovered that I have some questions for the author. I wrote them down so I wouldn’t forget to ask her to clear some things up for me. Maybe by the time I get to the end, all of my questions will be answered.. I sure hope so.

Kip actually finished up early. He passed the stress test with flying colors, but has to wait for the doctor to get with him on the heart scan. Don’t be alarmed, the doc is mainly trying to rule things out. I have my own diagnosis, but I won’t offer it unless I’m asked, which won’t happen.

Anyway, I had noticed a GW store as we came into town, and when Kip said he wanted to wash his pickup, I asked him to drop me off, and when he was finished, come back and get me. The place was huge and I didn’t have enough time, but I did manage to spend $1.79 plus tax. I have no place to put another thing in this house, but these are both little. I really need my daughter-in-law. Amy, to come and organize my house and me. That’s what she does in her spare time when she isn’t being a nurse and taking care of two active boys, and my son. I know she will make me get rid of things. I have never before been a collector, but I’m afraid I’m now pretty close to becoming a hoarder.

I almost had a garage sale last week, but Kip said it was too hot and he was right.

It’s almost nine o’clock now and I haven’t got my second wind, so I guess I’m going to have to go with this. I know I will regret it in the morning.

Here’s the definition.

Wearing me out

Don’t worry Phantom and Cowboy fans. There’s more to their story.

So, as the sun sets on another beautiful western South Dakota evening, the Road Gang is spending the night at Grandpa Sanderson’s Nemo cabin. Tomorrow, they will play in the creek.

Oh no, I forgot to stop and pick up Deb. Do you know how to get to Nemo Deb?

If these URL’s don’t work, cut and paste them onto your browser…

http://www.jibjab.com/view/Uce8U_8lRrGu32e7papPlQ

http://www.jibjab.com/view/BIX4kfrOR9KHhtzEXwt95w

http://www.jibjab.com/view/Mcw45tNSSbis7VBp74ZReA

http://www.jibjab.com/view/QHI5g8qlQkOQmqNGYYJMmA

http://www.jibjab.com/view/Xr0sXHEoSImm_SbM_X3b4w

I’m pretty sure I didn’t get everybody, so I’ll catch ya later…Might be pushing it, but The road gang said they wanted to kick up their heels and have some fun. Coffee and cake after the dance…

So the sun sets on another beautiful South Dakota evening. The Phantom Wrangler didn’t show…

I was talking with a friend the other day, and she said, “Do you ever feel like you’re invisible?  You talk, but no one hears or sees you. You notice when you tell someone something important they don’t comment, but a few minutes later, they tell you what you just told them.”

This feeling she had of being invisible resulted from several things happening in a short period of time. The repairman didn’t hear a word she said, the dog wouldn’t come when she called him. The doctor said she had a cold… right after she told him she came to see him because her right knee hurt.

He said, “Well everyone else I’ve seen today has a cold, so go home and drink plenty of liquids. Your knee will just have to run it’s course.”

I remember asking my son to come and sit down with me, because I needed to talk to him about something he had or hadn’t done. I really prepared for this talk. My voice was full of care and concern, even though I threw in a few dire predictions if he continued to do or not do what he was supposed to.

He looked me straight in the eye and nodded when I completed a point I needed to make. He did not interrupt me at all.

When I rested my case…I mean finished my “talking points,” I asked him if he had any questions.

He said, “Yeah, Mom, is my blue shirt clean?”

I felt invisible.

I think the “road gang” is sort of invisible, which in their case is a good thing. They mess up at every pit stop, and virtually go unnoticed until maybe one person has a problem with something they do…Like the one pepperoni pizza they made with just one piece of pepperoni. I wonder what they would’ve gotten if they had wanted a Supreme Pizza…

It wasn’t really fair for the owner to throw them out of the 1880 town because they tried to participate in a town function that, through no fault of theirs, was ruined by a person who tried to pass himself off as a man of the cloth. Up until then, they were invisible to everyone.

Well, now they’re in Kadoka, SD. They were getting something to eat at the Aw Shucks Cafe last time we heard from them. Wonder where they laid their little heads down to sleep last night.

Did you know Kadoka means “hole in the wall” in Lakota? even the road gang won’t be able to find stuff to do here.

Some of us went to the Badlands Night Sky Workshop. Queen E. brought the whole family…and the balcony. It was spectacular. When it was over we all sang Kumbaya!

Stephanie and Sissy Spielberg brought cake. Hey that guy looks like the Cowboy in disguise…Sherri brought her sweet daughter. “Mom please don’t make me eat more cake!!  Sherri: Nope! We’ll just sing a verse of Kumbaya and say baya!

This must have been right after lunch. Just look at how swollen the Queen’s feet are? Too much rodeo, car racing, and bus driving must have given her gout. Nice of the school lady to keep her company.

Look! TC and the wrecker guy are at someplace called the tower station. Did they have a little fender bender?

Lucky: I told DM I would hold down the porta potty while he watched the stars. See the new T Shirt my mom bought me in Mexico!

Hey! can you prairie dogs play?

The Phantom Wrangler turns to look at the truck and horse trailer that just went by on the road. He adds to the six words he’s said since we all met him. “It’s time I call in the law.”

***************************

So, as the sun sets on another beautiful South Dakota Evening. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.

Uh Oh…This isn’t me this is my evil twin. She went back to the ranch to rest up and eat something besides cake…and pizza. 

We really did have a lot of fun at the 1880 Town. We didn’t intend to leave quite so soon, but a couple of little things happened that drew the attention of the owner. I had no idea one person could own a whole town. It stayed real busy during the day, but all the people except us left when it closed down for the night, which was another kind of strange occurrence for a town.

We didn’t bother anyone or anything at night. We mostly sat around the saloon and ate cake which seemed to multiply faster than the growing rabbit population in the 1880 Town. We each had a nice room at the hotel, and DM let us use the porta potties for free after five o’clock. Life was good… until it wasn’t.

We’d all been there the better part of five days when a preacher decided to come and preach a sermon at the church. It was Sunday, and apparently a big day for tourists. The school teacher ladies decided to play the organ and sing, too. I thought they had already left town, but they said they couldn’t find a horse to hitch up to the stagecoach and it was too hot to walk…so it was all coming together for what promised to be a good service. 

The church was air conditioned, and it was hot as blazes so a lot of people showed up for church. The preacher turned out to be the fire and brimstone kind. He got real excited and started pointing to different ones in the pews and asking them if they wanted to go to heaven. Each one said yes, and he told them to get up and stand behind him in the pulpit. He had a bunch up there when he asked DM if he wanted to go to heaven to which DM said, “No sir.”

There was silence throughout the church. The school ladies played very softly. The preacher said, “Do you mean to tell me you don’t want to go to heaven?”

“DM said, “No sir, I don’t.” We were all getting pretty nervous by then. One of the tourists who was passing the collection plate was shaking so bad the change started to make a racket that seemed louder than it probably was.

Well, the preacher walked right down in front of DM and said, “Do you mean to tell me… a preacher… that you don’t want to go to heaven when you die?”

Preacher Applefloor and DM

DM took a deep breath, stood up and looked that preacher square in the eyes. He said, “Sure preacher…I want to go to heaven when I die. I thought you were getting a load to go up right now!”

You would have thought the newly formed congregation would have settled down some, but I guess it was too late. They were running over each other trying to get out of there.

It turns out the “preacher” was not from a local church. He wasn’t even a preacher. He just liked to yell at people. In all the confusion, the owner of the town thought it was one of our gang that decided to preach. Maybe it was because the school ladies never stopped singing through the whole thing. They sounded wonderful when they sang, “God Bless America,” which I had no idea had eight or so verses.

Anyway, we got our marching orders. We had to leave the premises so fast that DM didn’t even have time to load up his porta pottie. He did have forethought enough to bring all of his dimes with him. We left the owner a bunch of cake. We wanted him to know we really were good people just looking for a free place to live.

Woops…guess I was wrong TC still has the yellow convertible and lookie there! She brought the porta pottie!

We loaded up the VW van and after we woke up the Queen who was at the back of the church sleeping we got out of the 1880 town. Lav, Lucky and I got in Lav’s old truck and headed west. We were pretty low on gas by the time we got to Kadoka, so we pulled over at a cafe hoping they had gas too, and guess who was sitting there when we pulled in…AC (Aggressive Cowboy). We hadn’t seen her since we left the Cowboy’s movie ranch to go to the rodeo.

MG: Where have you been AC?

AC: I got lost on my way to the rodeo. Then I heard you went to NASCAR in Mt. Vernon, and I missed you there. Then I came here.

Lav: Oh, we’ve been at the 1880 Town. That’s where we’ve been living. We had our own town til we got run off. Who’s nice truck are you driving? (I could tell that Lav was kind of jealous, because we had to ride in her broken down truck.)

This picture of us in the convertible is from the NASCAR parade. It’s just a fantasy. we really rode to Kadoka in the broken down truck.

AC: Well, when I was at the rodeo, some cowboy came up to me and asked me if I would drive his truck and that horse thing with two horses in it to Kadoka. I just got to town so I haven’t had a chance to look him up yet.

MG: Who is he?

AC: I never did hear him say.

About that time the Queen with the rest of the gang pulls in. Very interesting. Looks like Kodak Kadoka is pretty important around these parts.

Sherri: Very interesting. Looks like Kodak Kadoka is pretty important around these parts.

Kadoka: Ah shucks!

Sherri: Something wrong?

Kadoka: Nope. Aw Shucks is the name of my cafe.

Sherri: Do you have cake?

Kadoka: Nope

Sherri: Good…let’s eat!

Looks like Sissy fixed the “no cake” problem… Wait!! Is that the Cowboy with the movie ranch?

So as the sun sets on another beautiful Central South Dakota day, the gang is fat and happy for the moment.

Is Kodak Kadoka really a big deal in town or have they not had time to repaint the water tower? Will DM have enough dimes to fill the ever growing parade of cars and trucks? Will AC find the cowboy who owns the truck and the horses? 

And what about the Phantom Wrangler???

I’ll give them one more day…two at the most.

Introducing…Connie’s Story, by Mary Francis McNinch

One of the greatest joys in life is to have and be a friend

When I was in High School, I was in awe of a girl who’s name was Connie Jackson. I wanted to be “Connie like.” I copied her hairstyle and clothes, and admired her every move, but no matter what I did, I fell short of being just like Connie. Last year, I looked up Connie’s brother Eddie. I had not seen him since we graduated in 1970. Through a series of events, I was encouraged and inspired to write this book. The Connie doll in the story belongs to Eddie’s wife Mari. The yearbook on the cover was Connie’s, and all of the “Connie’s stories” in part one, were written by Eddie from his own childhood memories. Many times, I read the story and followed his lead when I wrote the next chapter of the book.

I just got an email from Eddie reminding me that today would have been Connie’s 67th birthday. I have added the post I wrote on her birthday last year to the end of this one announcing the book I just published in memory of her. The timing is quite a coincidence…or is it an Angel telling us she “Connie Likes” the book.

Eddie and Connie… With Waldron cousins…Mari and Eddie in Murdo last summer, Tom and Connie several years ago.

***********************************

From Amazon

Congratulations, the paperback edition of your book “Connie’s Story” is live in the Amazon Store. It is available* for readers to purchase here. 

**************************************************

Connie’s Story  takes place in a small town called Murdo. The town is very  real. I grew up there in the 1950’s and 60’s and it’s a place very dear to my heart. You will read about Fern’s cafe, Murdo High School, Mack’s Cafe and Sanderson’s Store.

The story is about Hope Crandall and her family. Hope struggles to navigate through some very difficult times, after experiencing a devastating loss, but she has been given an unexpected gift that will help her through it all. This story has sorrow, healing, humor, fun, character building, problems, answers, faith, and incredible family dynamics. (It’s a 344 page book.) The characters appeal to age groups from eleven to ninety and beyond. You will laugh and cry.

Main St. Mack;s Cafe

I hope you will forward this information about the book to friends with children who’ve suffered a loss, or anyone who grew up in a small town, or wondered what small town life was like. You will fall in love with Pearl the human, Pearl the dog and Aunt Grace; walk through pain and healing with Warren, Lauren, and Hope. Connie Angel has a knack for saying what a troubled teenager needs to hear.

There is a little bit of Connie Jackson and some of me in this story. I had a Great Aunt Grace who kept her little black ballet flats on with rubber bands just like Great Aunt Grace in the story.  My grandparents lived south of Highway 16 where Hope’s grandparents live. All of Hope’s family members are not replicas of mine, but they might remind you of some of yours.

The following is an excerpt from Connie’s Story:

Riding the bus all the way to Montana was kind of fun, but riding it all the way back wasn’t. There was a lady sitting right behind us that must have dumped a whole bottle of perfume over her head. It wasn’t even a good smelling perfume. The bus was so crowded most of the way, we couldn’t even sit in different seats. I could tell it was really bothering Aunt Grace, too. She looked like she was feeling sick.

I turned around and asked the lady if she could smell her own perfume.

She smiled real big and said, “Why, yes, young lady.”

Then I said, “My mom told me something you should know. She said when I get to be a lady, and start wearing perfume; I should just put a little dab behind my ears. She told me, if you can smell your own perfume, you have too much on….and…”

That’s when Aunt Grace jabbed me in my side, and gave me the “hush up” sign. I was very quiet when I told Aunt Grace that I was just trying to save future bus riders from her potent perfume. Then she might tell someone else, who might tell someone they know. That would be a good thing, right? Aunt Grace just handed me a magazine and told me to fan her.

I have talked at length about how I wanted to be like Connie Jackson, so I won’t go over all of what you already know. Anyway, I started to think it never really happened at all. I thought maybe I dreamed it or as my Uncle Chuck Francis quoted Mark Twain as saying:

“When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not, but my faculties are decaying now, and soon I shall be so I cannot remember anything but the things that never happened.” 

The proof in the form of a picture… or two, came to me quite by accident. Connie’s brother unknowingly verified what might make some think I’m not quite right. Eddie emailed some photos from our yearbooks because I lost mine.

There it was staring at me…The proof!

Exhibit A

No one else that year had the same cut. I actually looked through a couple of yearbooks while I was at the reunion and came up with nothing.

Exhibit B:

Another picture of Connie with the “do”… Connie with Leslie Kell, Marilyn Kinsley, Doug Koester, and Tommy Kerlin. (I saw Tommy Kerlin at Dean Lindquist’s birthday party, which was the same week-end as the reunion. He lives in Sturgis and rides a really beautiful motorcycle. I wish I had a motorcycle like Tommy’s.)

Exhibit C:

I couldn’t keep up with Connie’s clothes and shoes because she had too many. I had to just pick out a few like her’s. I went to work at the Frosty like Connie, but she quit, so that didn’t exactly work out. Do you think I’m a manipulator? Mom always told me not to push the river. It flows. I think that was her way of saying I try to manipulate outcomes.

When I was at the reunion last summer, I saw Karen (Ferdig) Snider. She was one of my best friends in High School. I asked her if she had figured out, that I had been a Connie wannabe. She said she hadn’t realized it..(then). Karen looks the same as she did 46 years ago.

Karen and her beautiful granddaughter, McKenzie, talking with Eddie Jackson at the reunion (I like her white pants. I wonder where she got them?)…below that is Karen’s Senior picture.

Anyway, I’m sure glad I got over that nonsense of wanting what everybody else has.

*************************************************************

Connie would have been 66 today. We lost all three of these women to cancer. They each had three children. All were very special people. They are missed by those who are lucky enough to have known them.

Let it never be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.

They were all shining stars, but their moment was far too brief.

1880 Town…day four. 

How do you like my selfie?

All of a sudden it got extremely busy in the gang’s little town. It appears that tourists love ghost towns. They have been coming in by the droves to walk through all the houses and businesses and eat at the restaurants. The ladies that teach at the school house are overjoyed. They still don’t have any students per say, but they feel like celebrities anyway. At least a lot of people come to see them, and once they give them a tour and come up with bogus answers to all the silly questions, they get a tip. They’re making so much money they decided to go to the Prairie Pizza Place, but MG said N-O.

Wait! Where are the teacher ladies? Look at that line!

Teacher ladies: It’s been fun, but we’ve got places to go. Who wants to pull us?

Lav was immediately attracted to the Dances With Wolves attraction. She enlisted the Queen to try to fake out “Stands with a Fist,” so she could have Lt. John Dunbar all to herself.

TC: I feel out of place wrecker man.

AC: I’m almost to Kadoka..Am I ahead or behind the Gang?

DM realized they didn’t have indoor bathrooms in 1889, so he brought in a porta potty. He charges a dime.

When you gotta go, you gotta go

The cake thing is getting out of control. Watch where you’re pointing those guns ladies.

Looks like Sissy moved from the bank to the saloon

So, the sunsets on another beautiful Central South Dakota evening.

Who cares? 

The Cowboy says: Nope Lucky says: I can’t get away from pictures of sunsets. The wolf, the dogs, and whoever was at the end of the line for the porta potty: We’re leaving tomorrow at sunup

The Phantom Wrangler says: (wait for it….) It’s time

It’s been a few days since we raced the Pioneer Auto Museum’s cars at the NASCAR race in Mt. Vernon, South Dakota. By the way…We found out that none of our Presidents were born there. What can I tell you about the race? Not too much. We got there a couple of hours early so we went ahead and got started. Three of us ran out of gas before we made the first turn. Thankfully TC has a friend with a wrecker.

Somehow we got those autos back to the museum before sunrise. As we were leaving, the guy who acts like he owns the place showed up. The rule I live by and try to put into the minds of others is this: If you are not asked a question, do not, and I repeat, do not, give an answer.

Lav: Hi Mr. owner…We are the ones who took your cars to the NASCAR races in Mt. Vernon, and I believe if we hadn’t run out of gas, we would have won. Why is it Mr. owner that you don’t keep your Pioneer Auto Museum cars gassed up?

Mr. Owner: RUBEN!!!

Ruben: Lies, they’re all lies. The cars were all gassed up…I think.

Now that is a case of a question being answered before it was asked.

All that was yesterday and today is today. We had a fleeting thought, “Maybe we should stay in Murdo. Maybe we should try to get on at the Frosty Freeze.

Well, that was a thought that had to flee.

All was not lost. We still had the old pick-up truck and the Queen was still driving the orange and black VW van. We even had a little gas left thanks to an unauthorized pit stop at the races. The van even got two new tires. Looks like the Queen got a new hat!

Kodak Kadoka is still feeling a little beat up after riding that low to the ground ram in the rodeo. She had a great run at the races though. You never know what is going to give someone the confidence to do something that is absolutely crazy.

While we were waiting for a good plan, Lav came up with an idea that Murdo Girl fully endorsed. There is a little town west of Murdo that has a lot of buildings, but they’re all going to waste because nobody lives there. Let’s put a stop to such wastefulness. Let’s move in.

So down the road they went. After a busy few days, making a movie, rodeo-ing, and racing, the gang agreed it would be good to have a little R and R in a laid back town.

The 1880 Town

They weren’t kidding when they said laid back! It appeared to the gang it was more like laid out! They would be doing the little town a favor by moving in. It might “liven” things up a little.

Lav: I love my ideas and I love Kevin..and dancing…and wolves.

This is our school where we teach all of the 1880 students of which there are none, so we entertain ourselves.

We take care of the renters at the 1880 Hotel of which there are none, so we go to the bowling alley of which there are none.

I’m the Bank tell all, I mean teller. I take care of the money of which there is none, but I do serve delicious cake.

Lucky: I’m Lucky, the town dog. I love this place! I’m top dog here. The sign says 3 dogs and 9 cats. There are so many rabbits, if you turn around you’ll run into one. Yee Haw!!

What’s the difference between a healthy rabbit and an odd rabbit?  One is a fit bunny, and the other’s a bit funny!

How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it!

How do you know carrots are good for your eyes?  Because you never see a rabbit wearing glasses!

Heeeelp!!

So as the sun sets on another central South Dakota evening, the gang is settling into the 1880 Town…And they love, love, love it! How long do you think it will be before they’re asked to leave?

***********************

Oh no!! Here comes the tourists!! They look like they’re from Texas!

The Cowboy: That old town sort of reminds me of my childhood

The Phantom Wrangler looks on…He’s probably thinking, “Do I want to face what’s behind me, or a bunch of crazy people?”

(I have no idea what he’s thinking, it’s just a wild guess.)

I accidentally landed on this story last night when I was looking for something else. I read it again, and please don’t think I’m narcissistic, but I laughed until I had tears in my eyes. You just can’t mess with the truth. It will lose it’s luster.

I could have been a little emotional because I was very tired. I have been working on Connie’s story… the book …until the wee hours of the night. I have had a very sweet friend,who knows her stuff, edit it for me. I have learned so much from her. I tend to rush through things. I’m a good idea person or starter, but a poor finisher. You are going to love the book. I’m very proud of it. I’ll give you more information on Friday.

What you are about to read..again..Is the truth as I remember it. It reaffirms that I could never pull one over on Mom.

****************************************

I would like to assure all of you little Murdo Girl readers, that although her stories sometimes seem outrageous, they are indeed a true accounting of her life in Murdo. She really is a good Murdo Girl!

I dislike school after New Years, because there aren’t any more holidays where we get significant time off, and  it’s still a long way til May. I think the whole town gets kind of crazy because there is usually a bunch of bad weather too. Yesterday a lady Mom is friends with came over and she was carrying a high heeled shoe and said she was Cinderella. She didn’t appear to be looking for a Prince and she was drinking her beverage out of the shoe. She had the other shoe on, which made walking difficult. I asked Mom what was wrong with her and she said she got a hold of some bad water.

I’m bored at school too. I have to tell myself that every day I sit there in the front row, is a day closer to not sitting there in the front row. Sometimes it feels really awkward. For instance, Mr. Pickner gave us an assignment to write a story about ourselves. Everybody had to stand next to Mr. Pickner’s desk and right in front of me. I tried not to stare at them, or indicate in any way how I thought their report was going, but a couple of times it was too much for me.

My friend Karen, who is a straight A student, got up to read her story. She forgot a punctuation mark and said, “I was born at the age of three. My family moved to….” She stopped for a minute to try and figure out why some were snickering a little, but I’m not sure she ever got it, because I started choking. I knew laughing would be bad, but it was too late to get myself under control. I think Mr. Pickner wanted to make an example of me, primarily because I was so close to the situation. He sent me to the library with instructions to stay there until recess. That was the first time I realized that being a Pickner pick does not guarantee you can’t still get in trouble, which means there are no pluses to it at all. I think he’s biding his time just like I am. He probably knew early on that he had made a wrong decision. He just didn’t want to admit defeat. It wasn’t in the cards for me to get straight A’s.

Mom said I haven’t been very good natured lately and she’s right. What she doesn’t know is I’ve been having bad stomach aches. It feels like something is pulling  the outside of my stomach to the inside. I don’t want to tell Mom because she’ll take me to that woman Dr. In Kennebec. Her name is Dr. Horthy. I think she’s from Hungary. We can barely understand each other.  Mom claims she understands her just fine, but I don’t see how.

I guess I should tell you what I went through last year about this time. I had been home from school for a few days with a bad sore throat accompanied by a spasmodic cough. Mom said it appeared that I wasn’t going to get better, so she took me to Dr. Horthy, who examined me. She said a bunch of things I didn’t understand, and gave me a shot which almost made me pass out. Then she took Mom aside and talked to her in a low voice. When they finished talking, Dr. Horthy told me I was having “epleptic sizsures” and I would have to have a “shut” every week until the symptoms went away, or got worse. She paused.. to catch her breath I guess. Mom said not to worry, because Dr. Horthy was going to teach her how to give me shutz so I wouldn’t miss anymore school and flunk. Then she said there was nothing more she could do and sent me home. I remember having a fleeting thought that for some reason, I could understand every word Dr. Horthy said.

Well, I bawled all the way home, and Mom didn’t appear to be very sympathetic to the fact that her only daughter was an epileptic having fits. When we got home, she made me drink Peptobismol and put me to bed. I didn’t even have diarrhea.

I’m very thankful that a miracle happened and the first shot did the trick. I haven’t had a seizure or missed a day of school since.

I guess you have figured out by now why I’m not too anxious to go back to the good Dr. Horthy. If I describe my stomach pains, she’ll probably do some sort of emergency exploratory surgery right in her office. Why did we have to lose Dr. Murphy? He was such a sensible Doctor.

ONE WEEK  or so LATER

The pain continued, and Mom became concerned without me even having to say anything. I was worried too, and went willingly to see Dr. Horthy. All the way to Kennebec, I was positive the tests that Dr. Horthy would surely give me, would reveal a fatal illness. It didn’t help that Mom was pretty quiet too. I’m sure she was eaten up with worry.

When the examination was over. Dr. Horthy went into her back office for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she came back with a small packet which she handed to Mom. “Geeve dis child peils as 2x each dei! She hov wiermz.”

On the way home it started sinking in that I wasn’t going to die from the worms, but severe mortification might kill me. Mom must have sensed my distress, because she said, “Do you want to stay home from school tomorrow?” I nodded yes and said, “Thank you Mom.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “When we get home, I’ll give you some peptobismal. It will soothe your stomach.” (I was hoping for cinnamon toast.)

************************************************************

P.S. Billy called here last night and said that although my stories are factual, they are becoming a little overblown, and bordered on sensationalism. Sometimes he’s hard to understand… like he’s Hungarian or something.

I think after he reads my story today, he’ll feel sorry for me, because of what I’ve been through, and stop threatening to get me back when he comes home in July.