Leonard's Life

March 2014

MEMORIES

Dear Family, from Paul

Lately I have had the feeling that the descendants of Leonard and Verna Davis are not fully aware of the many hardships they suffered in raising their ten children.

The time of living in Idaho Falls was especially difficult. Bobby my oldest brother was just fifteen and got blood poisoning and there were not antibiotics to save his life.

It was the worst time of the depression. Dad was out of work. We received food from church welfare. I remember seeing the cans with the Deseret Industries logo.

The relief society brought a box of groceries to us at Christmas time. Mother was thrilled to see a bag of sugar. We had none. It was at this time that I was bitten on my hand by a coyote in the zoo.

Mother was so fearful that I would get blood poisoning too. Later we moved to Ogden where Dad found work. He was only paid about $90.00 a month (and rent was $25 a month) to raise a family of ten children.

I remember dad mostly because he worried so much. He had a mild heart attack and his health started to diminish. Basically from worry. There weren’t any medications and we couldn’t afford Dr bills.

By the year 1955 Arlene, Donald , Russell and Sterling were married. There were eight grandchildren, (eventually there would be 76). Dad only knew 8 of them.

Dad had a major stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. He was taken to the Dee hospital. They cut a hole in his throat and inserted a tube so he could breathe. His blood pressure was over 300. He was still conscious and could talk by putting his hand over the opening to force air up through his throat. He had to have nursing care 24 hours a day. Shirley was a nurse and would stay with him for 8 hours after her work. The doctor said they would know within 30 days if the paralysis would leave. So there he lay! The younger children couldn’t visit him because of hospital rules. One time I was with him and he said “Paul, let’s go to a movie (dad didn’t like movies), and I knew he was exhausted. My answer was, “dad, today is Sunday and we can’t go!) I watched my father waste away. Finally the Dr took the life support away and said it would be only a matter of a few days.

I called the married children and told them. Russell came down from Logan and stayed at the house. Early in the morning the phone rang and it was the hospital to tell me that father was passing and if we wanted to see him, hurry to the hospital.

Russell and I hurried to my car and I was speeding to the hospital when Russell said to me, “you don’t need to hurry, father has already passed away.” I said to him “how do you know that?” Russell said he appeared in the home before the phone rang. I asked, “How did he look?” “He said he had an expression of saying good bye to his wonderful family.”