6/30/06---As promised....an Aunt Ruby story....

So more on my amazing Aunt and her life.  My aunt got divorced in the mid 40's, right after the end of WW2--when that sort of thing wasn't done, and when that sort of thing DEFINITELY wasn't done in rural South Carolina....but I digress.  So she's got two kids, she's like....maybe 20 yrs old and she meets a man who has two kids of his own and they get married.  Sort of a "Yours, Mine & Ours" but without an annoying appearance by Lucille Ball. Anyway, the man she marries was my Uncle Louis.  She and my uncle would end up having three more children--all boys.  That would be my cousins Larry, Chris & Mike.  The two oldest boys, Larry & Chris have either physical or emotional disabilities and still--in their 50's--live at home with my aunt in the same house for over 40 years.  Here she is 83 yrs old, and she's still caring for my two cousins...and don't kid yourself....I'm sure its a struggle.  So my sister tells me a story about when our cousin Chris was born, and this was straight from Aunt Ruby.  So she's carrying Chris, and she's about 7 mos into her pregnancy when complications develop (SERIOUS complications) and is told by at least one doctor that Chris has died in her womb.  She goes to a local man and asks him to make a special casket for her unborn child--and the man refuses, saying that he can't possibly make a coffin for a child that hasn't been born yet!  The day comes for Chris to be delivered, and lo & behold he's alive but with obvious physical difficulties.  For one thing, he weighs like 2 lbs.  He's in intensive care for like 6 mos and its apparent that he has zero muscle coordination and when he is held, is essentially like a limp body.  After 6 mos, my aunt and uncle LIE to the doctor about the baby's correct weight (the doctor wanted Chris to be a minimum of 4 lbs before he would allow him to be released) so that they could take the baby home.  The two of them cared and nurtured Chris along (and this was the late 40's or early 50's so its not like you could run down to the local Healthsouth and consult with a physical therapist regarding the situation).  He was about 3 years old and still hadn't even started to walk---until that is, his younger brother Michael (and the fact that after two disabled children to deal with that they wanted to have more children tells you a lot about their character) begins to learn how to walk.  Chris learns towalk by Mimicking his younger brother!  Incredible.  I have to write a book about this woman.

Later,
Jeff