Happy Landings

After reading Dr. John's post when his family celebrated the bicentennial, it immediately brought me to what was going on in my family in 1976. The year is easy to remember because all of us ended up in the hospital at some point during the year. First my mother had gone in for exploratory surgery and it was the first time she was away from us. I was 10 and trying to make dinner for my father and brother and I burnt everything and they would not eat it.

Later, during the summer and because my father was a teacher at the college and had a couple weeks (months) off, we went on a vacation that was more than a few days. Normally, our family only went to visit relatives when we had time off, but this time it felt like a real vacation. It was still with relatives but the family rented a resort called 'Happy Landings"....what a hole in the wall place that was! It consisted of pink-faded, broken down wooden structures (supposed to be cabins) where none of the toilets worked and there were no doors, just curtains on the bedrooms where there were supposed to be doors. I distinctly remember the only light was a bulb hanging from a cord in the middle of the room.

But we all made light of it and the kids ran around and swam in the lake while the aunts and uncles drank and played cards. I sat on the dock wth my fishing pole and caught a bunch a fish while I watched all the other kids poles. The deal was if I caught any fish they would take them off the hook for me if I watched their poles while they ran around. I think I caught about 13 fish that day!

During this trip, I became seriously ill which was odd because I had just had my first physical (NEVER gonna forget that). They took me to a doctor who prescribed some medicine but I was not getting better. My family decided to cut the trip short and we headed home.

At some point during the week, I had to use the bathroom and was so weak, I could not pull up my jeans, they were too heavy. I had also coughed up some blood. I ended up in the hospital quarantined for a week before they figured out what was wrong with me. At first, they thought I had leukemia and did a bone marrow test. The hospital I was at was a teaching hospital so every nurse and doctor was there for the test while they stuck a needle in my hip. I did not make a noise and held on to the nurses hand because it did hurt. (Later, my mother told me she heard a girl screaming and she thought it was me, but it wasn't). The funny thing about this is they put a bandaid over the needle insert and it bled to a spot the size of a nickel. I was afraid to take the bandaid off because I thought the hole was that big! It finally came off in the shower and I cautiously looked at my hip and there was no mark at all....whew!)

Turns out I did not have leukemia but a rare form of anemia and the cure was taking steroids. I have fond memories of my dad coming to see me after visiting hours when he had been out of town to officiate a game and him watching the show 'Kojak' with me. (I always liked that show because Kojak sucked lollipops and he was bald like my father).

Two weeks after I got home from the hospital, my dad sliced his hand open and had to go to emergency for stitches.

I probably remember more about 1976 than any other year....when it rains, it pours.

Happy Landings!