Here is another little
excerpt from a A Life Well Loved.
There is a lot to Harrison and Ella Mae’s story that I hope you will
enjoy as much as you did (or will) Kate’s story. I have said this before—not only
do I want you to enjoy this ‘Life’ trilogy, but it’s also my hope it will
inspire you to perhaps write about your own family. It doesn’t have to be in the form of a novel
and something to publish for the world to read. Maybe just your own personal
journal, something you can pass on to your family members. Children never seem
to care about such stories. I know I certainly didn’t. As you grow older, family history becomes
more and more important. Oh how I wish my mom and grandparents were still
around so I could ask them about their lives. I know there is so much more to
their life experiences than what I can write about. I have so many questions,
many of which will never be answered in the pages of my novels. So if you have
the opportunity to talk to the older generations of your family, make that your
New Year’s resolution. Get it down on
paper. Cherish the history. It can even help you to discover more about
yourself. It did that for me. Read on!
…..Everyone was having a
great summer in 1902. Harrison was done with school and looking forward to
earning some of his own money. Sadly
though, that summer turned out to be a tragic and difficult summer for the
Limric family. It was the 4th of July, a beautiful warm Friday, and the family
was enjoying a picnic in their backyard.
The boys were having a ball taking turns shooting blank cartridges out
of a revolver. Emma was not happy about
the kids playing with a gun, but she didn’t want to put a damper on their fun.
Harrison’s older brother, Robert, was struck by a wad from one of the
cartridges, resulting in quite a bruise on his finger.
“Oh my gosh, Robert, are
you all right?” Emma said with great concern.
Robert just laughed it off and said, “I’m fine Mom. It hurts a little,
but it’s just a bruise. It will probably
be black and blue for a few days is all. Come on, whose next?” he said as he
held out the gun for one of his brothers to take a turn.
“No, no, no. That’s quite
enough play with guns for today,” Emma said, mad at herself that she allowed
the boys to play with the gun in the first place. “It’s time for lunch anyway, so come sit down
and eat.” The day turned out to be a lot
of fun for everyone, and they even forgot about the minor accident with
Robert’s finger.
The week continued on as
usual, but on that following Wednesday morning, Robert awoke with a very sore
and swollen finger. He was really
surprised, because up until then, he hardly noticed the bruise at all. It hadn’t even hurt much.
Emma was horrified when
she saw Robert that morning. Even
William looked concerned. “Oh my gosh, Robert, look at your finger! When did
that start?” Emma asked, as she ran over to her son.
“It was throbbing just a
little when I went to bed last night, but I just figured maybe it was from
playing baseball yesterday,” he explained. The boys had been playing baseball
up the street in the empty lot. “This
morning before dawn, it actually woke me up because it hurts so bad, and my
finger feels hot. I guess it’s from last Friday, but really, Ma, it felt fine
until now.”
“Harrison, go get Dr.
Madison and ask him to come by. This
finger looks infected to me, and I think he needs to take a look at it,” Emma
said, trying not to show the boys or even William how concerned she was. She could tell Robert was in more pain than
he was letting on. Robert was always a
strong boy who rarely complained, even when he was sick, so she knew this had
to be serious.
Dr. Madison came by a few
hours later. By that time, Robert was
back in bed, as he felt very weak, and he had a fever with chills. “Hi Doc,” Robert said, looking scared and a
little confused. “Hope you can tell me
what the heck is wrong with this finger.
It was fine until this morning when I got up. Hurts like hell—sorry Ma,” he said as Emma
give him a look that it was okay.
“Harrison told me what
happened last Friday with the revolver,” Dr. Madison began. “You haven’t had any symptoms until today?” he asked, as
he examined Robert’s finger. Robert
winced in pain every time the doctor touched the wound. “I know it hurts, Robert, but I have to see
how bad the infection is or if it looks like it’s healing at all. I’ll be done soon,” he explained.
“I hardly even remembered
there was a bruise there until today, Doc,” Robert said with tears in his eyes.
“The pain just seems to be getting worse and worse, even when it’s not being
touched. What could have happened? How could it be okay and then all of a
sudden turn into this?”
By this time, all of the
Limric boys were in the hallway at Robert’s bedroom door, with William and Emma
in the room looking on as Dr. Madison finished his examination. Everyone knew this was serious.
“I’m sorry, Robert, but I
think the only thing that might save you is if I remove the finger. It’s a bad
infection, and I am very concerned it’s going to spread. If that happens, there
may be nothing I can do,” Dr. Madison
said, feeling so bad for this young boy who had his whole life ahead of
him. He wasn’t entirely confident that would even help, but
if he got in there and found more infection, he was thinking amputating the arm
might save Robert’s life. He didn’t want
to go into that much detail just yet.
Emma buried her head in
William’s chest to try to hide her tears.
She couldn’t believe this was happening all from playing with a gun she
never wanted the boys to play with in the first place.
“No, no!” Robert
screamed. “I want to wait, Doc. It might get better on its own. At least give
it a day to see how it is tomorrow. Then if it’s getting no better, I’ll let
you take my finger. I guess I can get along without it, but I want to try
first. Please Doc, can’t we wait a day?”
Dr. Madison knew the
Limric boys well. Robert was strong and healthy. There was always the chance the infection
would heal on its own, but he was not sure he was willing to take that
chance. He looked over at Emma and
William, clearly seeing how scared both of them were. Then he looked back at Robert. He had such a
determined look on his face, despite how sick he was. Dr. Madison thought if anyone could “will” an
infection to go away, it just might be Robert Limric. Because he was so healthy otherwise, he
decided to wait.
“Oh thank you, Dr.
Madison. Thanks so much! I promise I’ll stay in bed and do whatever you say
after tomorrow,” Robert said, feeling like he was already getting better.
“You stay in this bed,
young man,” Dr. Madison instructed. “If you feel any change at all, no matter
how slight, you tell your ma and pa, understand?” he went on. “I don’t care if it’s day or night, you let
them know so they can come get me. I want your word on that.”
“Oh, absolutely Doc,”
Robert said with a weak smile. “I really
think by tomorrow it’s going to be a lot better. You’ll see.”
The doctor walked down to
the living room with Emma and William following behind him. “Keep him quiet and
don’t let him out of that bed until I see him again. I’ll come back tomorrow morning if I can or
early afternoon at the latest. If the finger is no better, I’m going to
strongly recommend I amputate. He might
even lose the arm, but I want to give him a chance and save both if I can.”
The Limrics thanked Dr.
Madison for his help, praying that Robert would get through this okay and not
have to lose his finger, much less his arm.
Jonathan Madison left the
Limric house not feeling good about his decision, but he did feel, even if the
infection did worsen, he probably would only lose the finger and would be able
to adjust easily to that. It would come
to be a decision he would regret for the rest of his life….
